United States Fiscal Austerity and Urban Innovation Project, 1983-1984

For this data collection, mayors, city council finance committee chairs, and chief administrative officers/city managers in all United States cities with populations over 25,000 were surveyed. Topics covered include the relative importance of professional as opposed to elected officials in fiscal management, and preferences for and implementation of changes in spending levels in 13 policy areas (e.g., education, social welfare, streets, and police protection). Respondents also were queried about policy preferences, activities, and impact on city government of 20 groups (including employees, business groups, local media, the elderly, city finance staff, and federal and state agencies). In addition, questions were asked on city finance problems (e.g., loss of federal or state revenue, declining tax base, and pressures from municipal employees), fiscal management strategies the city had used (e.g., contracting out, user fees, privatization), revenue forecasting, integrated financial management systems, performance measures, management rights, and level of sophistication of economic development analyses. Background information on mayors includes terms served, years spent in elected office, political party identification, use of local media, age, ethnicity/race, sex, religious preference, and education. In addition to the survey data, detailed structural data on population, economic structures, industry, and the labor force are provided.