1. What is the purpose of capital budgeting, and why is it used at state and local levels but not at the federal level, Do you think that is appropriate–why or why not? How does capital budgeting differ from current or general funding?
2. Capital projects are often financed through bond issues. Discuss state and local bond financing, and why there is investor interest in such instruments.
3. Discuss the importance of bond ratings to capital project financing.
4. What is debt capacity and how can it be determined?
NOTE:
While the text does not really deal with personnel questions in the area of budgeting, consider this one question based on your own thoughts and experience:
5. Why are personnel management, pensions and health care critical to governmental budgeting?
6. How would you define intergovernmental relations, and what is its importance to budgeting?
7. Since the federal government does not control the states in most areas, how does it get them to follow federal policies and mandates?
8. There is a real imbalance in service delivery and tax capacity between the federal government and state and local government. What do I mean by that statement, and what is the resultant impact?
9. There are significant differences between the relationship of the federal government to the states and the relationship of the state governments to their local governments. Discuss that issue and its impact.
