CLOSUP, The Bond Buyer: "Flint is also at the forefront of the development of XBRL for financial reporting. Flint participated in a pilot project with the University of Michigan's Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at the school's Ford School...
Increasing transparency in how local government works got a boost when the U.S. Congress passed the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) on December 15, 2022. The act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt data standards related...
Through a Michigan pilot program, Stephanie Leiser and the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy are building a taxonomy for machine-readable local government financial documents.
"Transparency into local government fiscal health is needed to...
Governments, standard setters, regulators and analysts encouraged to provide input
A pilot project involving the University of Michigan and others is exploring whether a new fiscal reporting mechanism for governmental entities can help create...
The turmoil surrounding the city of Flint-most notably stemming from its lead-tainted water crisis-has become a cautionary tale for other Rust Belt cities struggling to balance their budgets, provide services and attract new...
The turmoil surrounding the city of Flint-most notably stemming from its lead-tainted water crisis-has become a cautionary tale for other Rust Belt cities struggling to balance their budgets, provide services and attract new...
The turmoil surrounding the City of Flint, MI – most infamously the Flint Water Crisis – has become a cautionary tale for other Rust Belt cities struggling to balance their budgets, provide services, and attract new business. A 20-year review of the...
A new report from CLOSUP illustrates how data found in basic financial statements may be used to understand how Flint’s financial condition has changed over time. We draw on data from Flint’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports from FY 2000 to...
Michigan has had its share of disasters. Dams collapsed after heavy rains, flooding Midland. A sinkhole the size of a football field was caused by a sewer collapse in Macomb County. And in Flint, children were exposed to lead-contaminated...
Michigan has had its share of disasters. Dams collapsed after heavy rains, flooding Midland. A sinkhole the size of a football field was caused by a sewer collapse in Macomb County. And in Flint, children were exposed to lead-contaminated...
Michigan has had its share of disasters. Dams collapsed after heavy rains, flooding Midland. A sinkhole the size of a football field was caused by a sewer collapse in Macomb County. And in Flint, children were exposed to lead-contaminated...
Michigan has had its share of disasters. Dams collapsed after heavy rains, flooding Midland. A sinkhole the size of a football field was caused by a sewer collapse in Macomb County. And in Flint, children were exposed to lead-contaminated...
Another tax change also occurred due to the Great Recession. Sales taxes are sent to the state, and some are redistributed to cities, villages and towns. Part of this is provided by the Constitution. The second formula, called the statutory share,...
Michigan Radio reports that disinvestment in Michigan's local governments has had a direct effect on the deterioration of basic infrastructure, especially water and sewage systems.
Stephanie Leiser, who leads the Michigan Local Government Fiscal...
News outlets are applauding Tom Ivacko and the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy's announcement about a project with the city of Flint that will examine whether a new fiscal reporting mechanism can help create transparency in local fiscal...
The water crisis in Flint and the bankruptcy in Detroit were separate events that had a common theme -- they had been caused in part by fiscal challenges decades in the making. Avoiding similar tragedies in the future could be tied to greater...
CLOSUP program manager Tom Ivacko’s “What is lost when a state takes over a city,” was published on April 13 by Governing.com. The piece, which ran in "Voices of the Governing Institute," describes Michigan’s restrictive local government finance...
In a press release on Wednesday Gov. Rick Snyder appointed a task force to review "actions regarding water use and testing in Flint" and to make recommendations for future guidelines. Among those appointed is the Ford School's own Dr. Matthew...
Kary Moss, a lecturer at the Ford School and executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, worked with a coalition of groups behind the Flint Water Study to petition the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take...
Media throughout Michigan reported on the Ford School panel discussion regarding the state's new "Emergency Manager" law, technically known as Public Act 4 of 2011, the Local Government and School District Fiscal Accountability Act.The panel...
Michigan Public Budgeting and Finance Planning class (PubPol 715) invites you to join them for a conversation with guest speaker Robert Widigan, former CFO for the City of Flint and incoming Chief Deputy CFO of Wayne County.
Special screening of State of Emergency, a new documentary play inspired by Michigan's controversial Emergency Manager Law. On Saturday, February 23 at 7:00 pm, we will live-stream the performance (taking place in Flint) in Rackham's 4th floor amphitheatre.
CLOSUP Lecture Series,
Policy Talks @ the Ford School
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Annenberg Auditorium
Free and open to the public. Auditorium doors will open at 3:30 PM on March 19. This event will be live web-streamed; a link to the web-stream will be posted here on the day of the event at least 30 minutes prior to the start time.
Over the past twenty years, few cities have experienced as much fiscal stress as Flint, Michigan. After decades of economic decline, two periods of state receivership, the water crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Flint is trying to shore...
Although property abandonment affects many cities, little is known about what becomes of that property or what institutional differences lead to varied outcomes. More rapid tax foreclosure in Michigan, touted as best practice nationally, offers the...
As part of CLOSUP's project to modernize financial reporting and transparency in Michigan, we have used data from 20 years of Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports (ACFRs) in the City of Flint to conduct a detailed review of Flint's financial...
