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Municipal finance expert urges long-range planning, warns of common city budget risks
Summary
Michael Coleman, a Davis resident and municipal finance consultant, told the Davis Finance Commission that understanding who legally pays each revenue source and running multiyear forecasts are essential to city fiscal health; he outlined a 14-measure diagnostic and cautioned against overreliance on one-time development or risky financing.
Michael Coleman, a Davis resident and longtime California municipal finance adviser, told the Davis Finance Commission that cities need clearer long-range forecasts and explicit reserve policies to avoid fiscal distress.
Coleman gave a primer on local revenue types and voter thresholds and presented a 14-measure financial-health diagnostic the commission can use to assess solvency, service levels and management risk. "Property tax revenue is very stable," Coleman said, adding that "who pays is a big thing" when designing revenue instruments.
Why it matters: Davis, like many California cities, faces pressures…
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