A New York Police Department (NYPD) officer speaks on his radio in Times Square in 2013. New York’s fiscal 2015 budget includes money for the NYPD to hire 200 administrative aides to free officers from desk work. (Photo: Andrew Burton Getty Images)
USA Today quotes Michael Pagano, GCI fellow and dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, on the reasons why municipal governments are hiring again: greater property tax revenues due to rising home prices, and the need to work on infrastructure projects that were put on hold during recovery.
Local governments are on more solid financial footing in part because of a gradual rise in home values that have boosted property tax collections, says Michael Pagano, dean of the college of urban planning and public affairs at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Further increases are likely in 2014, but it could take two years for last year’s hefty gains in home values to be reflected in tax collections, he says.
Revenue from city and county sale taxes, income taxes and various municipal fees also have increased as U.S. economic growth has accelerated.
