Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1911. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-131).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Randall Holcombe, Florida State University, College of Social Sciences, Dept. of Economics. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 15, 2006). Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 176 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed May 23, 2007). PDF text: vi, 149 p. : col. ill., col. maps ; 1.89Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3237052. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

In this mini-dissertation, an investigation of the municipal credit control policy, with specific reference to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality was undertaken. The dissertation comprises six chapters. The study is based on the assumption that the existing credit control policy currently (2001) used by the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality to collect service arrears has failed and that this failure is the reason why the Municipality is struggling to survive financially. This is affecting the rendering of services. The validity of this assumption was investigated. The primary objectives of the research included, inter alia, to provide a brief theoretical background on the transformation of local government in South Africa. This was followed by an investigation of the role of South African local government and the impact of non-payment for municipal services, with specific reference to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality. The empirical survey, the research methodology and the interpretation of the research findings are described. This is followed by an explanation of the survey questionnaire used for the accumulation of data needed for the analysis. The research findings of the empirical survey were statistically analysed and reported.

Metropolitan fringe communities throughout North America are today facing a multitude of major problems precipitated by their recent rapid development. The leapfrog chaos of urban sprawl has left thousands of acres of disrupted land in its wake, and basic municipal policy considerations are essential to solve these problems and prevent new ones. Much of the responsibility for this chaos lies with Municipal Councils that, instead of recognizing the delicate interrelationship of municipal development goals, policies, patterns, and costs, are concerned only with attracting new development. On the other hand, there are few factual cost data available in a form readily applicable to practical problems, and there have been few attempts to secure such data. Hence, the objective is to investigate the servicing cost consequences of different development patterns and to thereby establish policies fostering an efficient residential development pattern. Using the household as the cost unit, six pattern-cost hypotheses are formulated, incorporating six pattern variables, namely: lot area; lot width to depth ratio; distance to available trunk services; area of a subdivision at a distance from trunk services; the proportion of lots developed; and servicing level. Seven to-the-lot services, namely roads, curbs, sidewalks, street lights, water distribution, sanitary sewers, and storm sewers, are considered with each pattern variable. Utilizing an abstract model, twelve 160-acre model subdivisions incorporating the six pattern variables are designed, serviced, and costed for each of the seven services to establish pattern-cost relationships. To assure consistency, specific subdivision design requirements, servicing requirements, and costing procedures are followed. The study results clearly uphold the following six pattern-cost hypotheses: Hypothesis A: That per household costs for the specified municipal services will decrease as lot area is decreased. Hypothesis B: That per household costs for the specified municipal services will decrease as the lot width to depth ratio is decreased. Hypothesis C: That per household costs for the affected trunk and related municipal services and for total per household servicing costs will decrease as the distance between the subdivision and the available trunk services is decreased. Hypothesis D: That per household costs for the affected trunk and related municipal services and for total per household servicing costs will decrease as the area of the subdivision is increased when the subdivision is at a distance from available trunk services. Hypothesis E: That per household costs for the specified municipal services will decrease as the proportion of lots developed is increased. Hypothesis F: That per household costs for the specified municipal services will decrease as the servicing level is decreased. From these basic statements it is apparent that if the need for servicing urban and suburban development is accepted, and if the economical provision of these services is desired, then a "concentration" approach to community building must be accepted. From the results, basic municipal policies for residential development can be formulated. Development should be staged to take in new areas only as they are needed and only as they can be serviced. Areas already started should be completed first. Development at a distance from established areas should be considered only if it is complete and extensive. In outlying areas for deferred development, services and subdivision activity should be minimized. Urban development involving lots of over 7,000 square feet should be discouraged, while the small narrow lot should be reconsidered because it is most economical. In conclusion, the economies of concentration are clearly demonstrated by the study results. The decision makers, if they are protecting the community interest, must avoid the waste of a "scatteration" policy. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

The last few decades have witnessed the appearance of a new dimension in the field of the social sciences -namely the applied aspect. This emphasis is reflected in the application of complex and sophisticated quantification techniques and procedures that have been adopted by many researchers. One direction in which attention is being focussed is towards the determination of the optimum size of cities. Sociologists, geographers, economists, demographers, planners, and persons from other disciplines, are becoming increasingly concerned, from different viewpoints, about the size and structure of cities. The question that they raise is: "What is the most desirable or optimum size for a city?" This thesis attempts to determine the value for the optimum size of cities in the Province of British Columbia using efficiency of municipal services as the variable with which to determine this size. Such a pursuit is a relatively new phenomenon and very few studies have adopted this type of an approach. To accomplish this objective, the thesis has been divided into four major sections. The first, represented by Chapter II, discusses the evolving concepts regarding the ideal shape and form of cities. This chapter outlines the various methods that have been adopted through the years, to determine the ideal or optimum size and shape of cities. The second section, represented by Chapter III, outlines the various expenditure and revenue activities that are practised by incorporated areas in the Province of British Columbia. An understanding of the implications regarding these activities, and the effects they have upon budget procedures provides an insight into some of the fiscal problems that confront municipalities. Chapter IV, which comprises the third major section, justifies the selection of municipal services that are investigated; the selection of the sample size regarding the number of cities, and the classification of these into separate groups; and the time period for the investigation. The municipal services chosen are: fire protection, public works, sanitation and waste removal, recreation, and education. The year 1965 was selected as accurate results were available from the 1965 Census. The sample size included all incorporated areas in this province which amounted to ninety-eight centres. The final section, represented by Chapter V attempts to compare cost with level of performance for individual services. This involved carrying out several intermediate steps. These were. 1. measuring the level of service for each municipal service; 2. equating per capita expenditures for a given service with the level of performance it provides to each inhabitant; and 3. the ranking of each municipal service in terms of the relative importance between it and the remaining ones. The final results obtained from this investigation were as follows; 1. Smaller incorporated areas in the Province of British Columbia expend lower sums of money, in terms of per capita values, on the maintenance and operation of municipal services than do larger municipalities. 2. Smaller incorporated areas receive lower amounts of grants, subsidies, and contributions, in terms of per capita values, from higher levels of governments than larger municipalities. 3. Larger municipalities generate greater sums of money, in the forms of revenue raised from local taxation practices, on a per capita basis, than do smaller ones. 4. Larger municipalities provide higher levels of fire protection services, public works activities, sanitation and waste removal operations, recreation services, and education services than do smaller incorporated areas. 5. By equating cost with level of service, and ranking each municipal service according to its relative importance, the largest size group of cities attains the highest score. The contention of this thesis is that, when using efficiency of municipal services as one measure with which to determine the optimum size of cities, the largest size group of cities represents the optimum size. The results of this investigation have indicated that cities with populations of fifteen thousand or more persons represent the optimum size. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, School of Law, 2016. / Public finance literature has minimally engaged the fiscal autonomy of African local governments, and cities in particular. African cities should independently generate a significant portion of revenue locally in order to finance a varied range of municipal services to a diverse municipal population. This study aims to provide insight through the contextual analysis of the revenue assignment function of African cities. The study explores fiscal discretion and appropriation as a reflection of local fiscal autonomy and how these manifest in local revenue instruments. The study employs an illustrative case study methodology on Nairobi and Johannesburg by means of an examination of local revenue generation particularly water revenue and municipal borrowing to examine the contrasting experience of local fiscal autonomy of these two cities. The legal and institutional frameworks of these cities provide for an array of OSR. Previously, local revenue tools did not address the financing needs for municipal services of infrastructure required to cater for the growing and diverse municipal populations. A national process of local government restructuring compelled the cities to realign local structures to enhance revenue mobilization in order to address the challenge of municipal service delivery. The regulatory environment was also amended to effect intergovernmental transfer arrangements as well as particular local revenue instruments in each case. In Nairobi, the structural and legal changes have effectively entrenched the centralist nature of the Kenyan government, severely limiting the city’s autonomy with regard to water revenue. The city’s fiscal capacity for municipal borrowing has been left largely unchanged by Kenyan local government reform. In Johannesburg, the democratic dispensation has enforced local fiscal autonomy that was evident in the apartheid white local authorities. The mammoth task of centrally managing all the city revenues has brought to the fore administrative challenges particularly regarding water revenue; however, the city’s fiscal capacity has improved its state of municipal borrowing. These findings confirm the decentralization rationale. Fiscal decentralization is thus important for asserting the function of revenue assignment to enhance local fiscal autonomy. The two case cities show that local capacity and the historical role of central government are important in ascribing and manifesting this function.

No description available.

"Prepared in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in Public administration at the University of Minnesota."--Foreword. / Bibliography: p. iii-xii.

"Prepared in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of master of arts in Public administration at the University of Minnesota."--Foreword. / Bibliography: p. iii-xii.