Published: Dec. 18, 2015

Helping cities become fiscally fit

Contact(s): Eric Scorsone , Sean Corp, Andy Henion

Michigan State University will launch a center next month to help the state’s municipalities improve their fiscal health.

Directed by Eric Scorsone, an economist who assisted Detroit and other struggling cities, the MSU Extension Center for Local Government Finance and Policy will advise communities and distribute important research and fiscal-health indicators for all Michigan municipalities.

“Local governments often only hear about what they’re doing wrong instead of what they are doing right and on how they can do things even better,” said Scorsone, MSU Extension specialist in municipal finance and MSU professor of economics. “Our goal is to provide local governments with the tools and information they need to operate in a fiscally healthy and sustainable way while working with state government to make sure the state doesn’t put up roadblocks to local success.”

Michigan municipalities face many challenges, including $10 billion in combined unfunded legacy costs related to pension and retiree health care, Scorsone noted. “We can’t simply undo past mistakes,” he said, “but we can focus on helping people improve their futures.”

The center will offer fiscal sustainability workshops, customized consultancy services, applied research on municipal governance and fiscal issues and an annual fiscal health report on each of Michigan’s cities, counties and townships.

Read the full news article in MSU Today: https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2015/helping-cities-become-fiscally-fit