Book Description

THE MUNICIPAL BUSINESS SYSTEM VIA THE ART OF FULL DISCLOSURE The above titled Book is intended to change the way local governments do NOT do "business". It is predicated on and dedicated to an achieved fact: There is NO compelling reason why cities, counties and government special districts cannot be run better than private businesses are alleged to operate. Local Government can be superior! Further, there is no reason for municipal services to be gutted as is being done and advocated, and/or “outsourced” for ideological and unknown undocumented “cost-saving” reasons. It is time local government defended itself against massive misinformation and lack of supporting data. Cities can, and should be “run like a business”. This Book details the adaptation of corporate “line-of-business profit & loss” corporate accounting to municipal services. The MUNICIPAL BUSINESS SYSTEM, explained in detail in this Book, has provided billions of new revenues to 250+ governments. Better yet, those monies were retrieved from those improperly benefitting from tax-supported direct benefit services. Previously, influential persons and organizations were subsidized by taxes paid by everyone. By providing a highly detailed inventory of services, then full costing information for each to the public and their elected representatives, huge amounts of tax monies were repatriated. Those monies were diverted from those who should pay fees, and returned to pay for services provided to the community at large. Thus Police, Fire, EMS, parks, recreation, library, street maintenance, and agreed-to social services were resuscitated. Through the MUNICIPAL BUSINESS SYSTEM process the tax and fee-paying public is provided detailed full disclosure of revenue, cost-of-service, and quality information for the hundreds of local services provided by most cities and counties. And choice if, when, how, and quantity provided. Thus re-inventing the manner in which taxes are used and service levels defined. At last, there is a SYSTEM to utilize computerization capabilities fully to provide a rationale and reasons for not cutting municipal budgets or privatizing local services, and thus destroying local government, its protections and services. Importantly, taxes paid by all can be utilized solely to finance services benefitting ALL, not subsidizing just the few to retain special local service benefits solely for personal, corporate, or business purposes, at the expense of the community at large. The Author utilized his decades of experience and knowledge acquired in-the-trenches to develop, refine, and apply the MUNICIPAL BUSINESS SYSTEM. He now shares with others what was labored over for 40 years of development by a corps of dedicated municipal employees, and ultimately with a brilliant group of financial analysts and CPAs, who designed and implemented the detailed highly sophisticated but simply computerized MUNICIPAL BUSINESS SYSTEM. Then Ayres taught the "how" at three major universities for 15 years. The Book provides sufficient textual overview, explanation, specific illustrations, examples, and details to know and control the cost of all services throughout the entirety of local - and maybe even state - governments. Douglas W. Ayres, MPA, LLD spent eight years with the University of Chicago's National Governmental Center (PAS) conducting scores of consulting engagements around the U.S., Canada and in Venezuela. He served as Town Clerk/Assistant Town Manager of Salem, Virginia; City Manager of Melbourne, Florida (Cape Canaveral); City Treasurer/Assistant City Manager, then City Manager of Salem, Oregon. As City Manager of Inglewood, California he installed the computerized MUNICIPAL BUSINESS SYSTEM. As a USC Graduate School Professor he taught Public Finance for 15 years, and for 25 years spread the SYSTEM to 250+ local governments via consulting firms - DWA, Inc.; Management Services, Inc. (MSI); and Ayres & Ayres, Inc. On retirement, Revenue Cost Specialists (RCS) succeeded Doug, further developing the MUNICIPAL BUSINESS SYSTEM and its software as specifically presented and then dissected in CONSUMER GOVERNMENT VIA THE ART OF FULL DISCLOSURE. The book can be purchased for $17.48 at www.bookstore.trafford.com or at www.consumergovernment.com or in 81⁄2 x 11” spiral lay-flat for $40 from Douglas W. Ayres, 10 Thunder Road, Sedona, AZ 86351-9205 928/284-9306 or 928/202-0222 or FAX 928/284-1855 PM SHORT ARTICLE