September 19, 2013
I attended the annual Governing summit on the Cost of Government in Washington, D.C., this week. This year’s speakers and participants touched on a range of issues shaping the way state and local governments operate in today’s limited resource environment. There was a general consensus that the economy is not returning to a pre-recession level of growth anytime soon, a fact that is continuing to drive change for states, counties and cities. While this is not a new message, discussion at the Governing summit helped convey the severity of the problems, particularly for cities and counties. The Director Intergovernmental Relations at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) noted that property tax revenues, as a share of our nation’s GDP, are not expected to return to their pre-recession levels for 50 years. Additionally, in many districts, due to the lag in collections and assessments, property tax collections are still declining even though the real estate market has turned a corner. The prolonged retrenchment in property tax collections is expected to permanently reshape the way local governments operate and change the relationship between states and their local government units. After attending the Governing summit, I came away with a sense that there a greater need and opportunity for intergovernmental collaboration and cooperation, perhaps more so than at any time in the last few decades.