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Schedule

Deadlines will be defined as 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the last day of the lesson timeframe, unless noted differently.

Lesson 1: Introduction to Fiscal Decision-Making
Readings:
  • Cleveland, F. A. (1915). Evolution of the budget idea in the United States.The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 15-35 (Library e-Reserves)
  • Smith, R. W., & Lynch, T. D. (2004). Public budgeting in context. Public budgeting in America. (5th Ed., pp. 34-40). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson (Library e-Reserves)
  • Mauriello, T. (2009, October 10). Finally, Pennsylvania gets a budget. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved from http://www.post-gazette.com (Library e-Reserves)
Activities
  • Participate in the course map activity
  • Participate and post a short bio in the Lesson 1 Self Introduction.
  • Complete Lesson 1 Budget Impasse (Individual Submission).
Lesson 2: Principles of Public Finance — The Role of Government
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 1
  • Walsh, M. W. (2007, January 20). Richard A. Musgrave, 96, theoretician of public finance, dies. The New York Times (Library e-Reserves)
  • Caro, R. A. (1998, January). The city-shaper. The New Yorker (Library e-Reserves)
  • Hayek, F. A. (1945, September). The use of knowledge in society. The American Economic Review, 35(4), 519-530 (Library e-Reserves)
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 2 Quiz.
  • Do review exercise(s).
  • Complete Lesson 2 Market Failures Individual Submission.
Lesson 3: Public Budgeting — An Introduction
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 2 (excluding pages 80-86), Chapter 4, and Chapter 5
  • Key, V. O. (1940, December). Lack of a budgetary theory. American Political Science Review, 34(6), 1137-1144 (Library e-Reserves)
  • Pennsylvania Office of the Budget. The Pennsylvania budget process. Retrieved from http://www.portal.state.pa.us
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 3 Quiz.
  • Do review exercise(s).
  • Complete Lesson 3 Budget Data Analysis Group Submission.
  • Complete Article 1 Commentary (Group 1).
Lesson 4: Budget Methods and Practices — Part I
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 3
  • NCSL Fiscal Brief: State Balanced Budget Provision (2010). Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org
  • City of Dalles Budget
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 4 Quiz.
  • Do review exercise(s).
  • Participate in Lesson 4 Watercooler Discussion.
  • Complete Assignment 4 Budget Content Group Submission
  • Post comments to the Group 1 commentary (all the groups except Group 1).
Lesson 5: Budget Methods and Practices — Part II
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 6
  • Moynihan, D. P. (2006, January). Managing for results in state government: Evaluating a decade of reform. Public Administration Review, 66(1), 77-89 (Library e-Reserves)
  • Cothran, D. (1993, Sep/Oct). Entrepreneurial budgeting: An Emerging Reform? Public Administration Review, 53(5), 445-454 (Library e-Reserves)
  • Dull, M. (2009, October). De-PART: Assessing the legacies of the program assessment rating tool for management and budgeting. Paper presented at the Public Management Research Conference, Columbus, OH (Library e-Reserves)
  • Stalebrink, O. J., & Frisco, V. (2011). PART in retrospect: An examination of legislators' attitudes toward PART. Public Budgeting & Finance, 31(2), 1-21. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5850.2011.00977.x (Library e-Reserves)
  • U.S. Government Accountability Office. (2008). Government performance: Lessons learned for the next administration on using performance information to improve results (Report No. GAO-08-1026T). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office (Library e-Reserves)
  • Young, N. K. & Wilcox, J. City of The Dalles, Oregon Fiscal Year 2012-13 Adopted Budget.
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 5 Quiz.
  • Participate in Lesson 5 Watercooler Discussion.
  • Complete Leson 5 Program Performance Rating Tool Group Submission.
  • Complete Article 1 Commentary (Group 2).
Lesson 6: Capital Budgeting
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 7
  • Samuelson, R.J. (2010, November 1). California rail project is high-speed pork. The Washington Post. Retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/31/AR2010103104260.html
  • Listen to the radio segment on "Lessons learned from 35W Bridge Collapse."
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 6 Quiz.
  • Do review exercise(s).
  • Complete Lesson 6 Benefit-Cost Analysis Invidividual Submission.
  • Post comments to the Group 2 commentary (all the groups except Group 2).
Lesson 7: Taxation — Criteria for Evaluating Revenue Options
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 8
  • Harper, R., Hawkins, G., Martin, & Sjolander, R. (2003, Winter). Price effects around a sales tax holiday: An exploratory study. Public Budgeting and Finance, 23, 108–113 (Library e-Reserves)
  • Davey. (2011, January 12). Questions persisting as Illinois raises taxes. The New York Times. Retreived from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/13/us/13illinois.html?_r=0 (Library e-Reserves)
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 7 Quiz.
  • Participate in Lesson 7 Watercooler Discussion.
  • Complete Assignment 7 Tax Policy Group Submission.
  • Complete Article 1 Commentary (Group 3).
Lesson 8: Taxation — Income Taxes
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 9
  • Conway, K., & Rork, J. (2012, Fall). The genesis of senior income tax breaks. National Tax Journal, 65(4), 1043–1068 (Library e-Reserves)
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 8 Quiz.
  • Do review exercise(s).
  • Participate in Lesson 8 Watercooler Discussion.
  • Complete Lesson 8 Calculation of Effective Tax Rate Individual Submission.
  • Post comments to the Group 3 commentary (all the groups except Group 3).
Lesson 9: Taxation — Taxes on Goods and Services
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 10
  • "State, Federal, and Local Taxes" by National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). Retrieved from http://www.ncsl.org
  • Davis et al. (2009, November). Davis, C., Davis, K., Gardner, M., McIntyre, R. S., McLynch, J., & Sapozhnikova, A. Who pays? A distributed analysis of the tax systems in all 50 states. (3rd ed.) Retrieved from The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy website: http://www.itepnet.org/whopays3.pdf (Library e-Reserves)
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 9 Quiz.
  • Participate in Lesson 9 Watercooler Discussion.
  • Complete Article 1 Commentary (Group 4).
Lesson 10: Taxation — Property Taxes
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 11
  • O'Leary, K. (2009, June 27). The legacy of Proposition 13. Time Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1904938,00.html (Library e-Reserves)
  • Business: Trying to change an unfair tax. (1971, May 3). Time Magazine, 97(18). Retrieved from http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,876990,00.html (Library e-Reserves)
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 10 Quiz.
  • Participate in the Watercooler Discussion.
  • Do review exercise(s).
  • Complete Lesson 10 Calculation of Property Tax Submission.
  • Post comments to the Group 4 commentary (all the groups except Group 4).
Lesson 11: Revenues from User Fees, User Charges and Sales by Public Monopolies
Readings:
  • Mikesell: Chapter 12
  • Lauth, T., & Robbins, M. (2002, Fall). The Georgia Lottery and state appropriations for education: Subtitution or additional funding?  Public Budgeting and Finance, 89–100 (Library e-Reserves)
  • Cook. (2010, January 24). Time to increase Minnesota fishing license prices? Duluth News Tribune (Library e-Reserves)
  • Copeland, L. Time to tweak gas taxes? States weigh options. (Jan 25, 2013) USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/24/gas-tax-tweak-options/1862221(Library e-Reserves)
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings.
  • Complete Lesson 11 Quiz.
  • Participate in both of Lesson 11 Waterooler Discussions.
  • Complete Lesson 11 Gambling and Educational Funding Individual Submission.
  • Complete Article 1 Commentary (Group 5).
Lesson 12: Debt Administration
Readings:
  • Mikesell Chapter 15
Activities:
  • Complete the required readings
  • Complete Lesson 12 Quiz.
  • Do review exercise(s).
  • Participate in Lesson 12 Watercooler Discussion.
  • Post comments to the Group 5 commentary (all the groups except Group 5).
Final Exam Week
Readings:
  • None.
Activities:
  • This course utilizes finals week. Submission of the final exam is due by 5 p.m. (ET) on Friday August 9, though you may submit it earlier, of course.

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