Thesis (MBA) -- University of Limpopo, 2010 / The research focuses on the effectiveness of Polokwane Local Municipality to provide basic infrastructure services, adherence to project management principles and the involvement of communities in project implementation. Provision of basic infrastructure project has always been a challenge to local government. Polokwane Municipality as part of local government is mandated to fulfil constitutional obligations to ensure that provision of sustainable, effective and efficient municipal services to the communities, while promoting social and economical development. Quantitative research methodology was used in this research; the primary source was the questionnaire while the secondary sources include books, journals, dissertations and reports. The population in the study include community members, ward committee members or councillors, managers and technicians of the Polokwane municipal area. The findings revealed that the municipality is performing well in project scope management. Other project knowledge area such as project time management, project quality management, project human resource and project communication management requires more attention as they are not performing well. Project cost management is perceived to be performing well from the community and councillors side while officials see it differently. The research recommends that the municipality should ensure that the community members are involved during the project implementation. It further recommend that the municipality should implement cost recovery, develop policies to deal with quality management, train officials, instil project ownership to the communities and do proper project planning analysis before project implementation.

Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / A large percentage of the national budget goes to municipalities to provide services to communities. Since 2000, National Treasury has been increasing the budget to municipalities to enable them to deliver better quality services and to expand the provision of basic amenities. Despite this huge financial investment, there is still poor access and use of social and infrastructure services by most communities in South Africa. The primary aim of this study is to investigate the institutional capacity of municipalities in delivering services to communities: a case study of the Polokwane Municipality in Limpopo. This case study used various data-collecting methods such as interviews, documentation and archival records to come to a conclusion. An interview schedule was used in this study to allow the key respondents to give more detailed information about the problems or challenges facing the municipality in delivering services. The study concluded that the Polokwane Municipality has the necessary institutional capacity to deliver on its constitutional mandate. However, there are specific capacity challenges that need to be addressed.

Whether the results of fiscal transfers have positive or negative implications depends upon the incentives that transfer systems create for both central and local governments. The complexity and ambiguity of the relationship between fiscal transfers and tax revenues of local governments is one of the main causes why research projects, even in the same country, come to different results. This investigation is seriously questioning the often stated substitution effect based only on an analysis of aggregated data and finally rejects in the qualitative part of this research (using survey techniques) a substitution effect in the majority of the assessed municipalities. While most theories are modeling governments as tax-maximizers (Leviathan) or as being prone to fiscal laziness, this investigation shows that mayors react to a whole set of incentives. Most mayors react rational and rather pragmatically in respect to the incentives and constraints which are established by the particular context of a municipality, the central government and their own personality/identity/interests. While the yield on property tax in Peru is low, there are no signs that increases in transfers have had, on average, a negative impact on their revenue generation. On an individual basis there exist mayors who are revenue maximizers, others who are substituting revenues and others who show apathy. Many engage in property tax. While rural or small municipalities have limited potential, property taxes are the main revenue sources for the Peruvian urban municipalities, rising on average 10% during the last five years. The property tax in Peru accounts for less than 0.2% of GDP, which compared to the Latin American average, is extremely low. In 2002, property tax was collecting nationwide about 10% of the overall budget of local governments. In 2006, the share was closer to 6% due to windfall transfers. The property tax can enhance accountability at the local level and has important impacts on urban spatial development. It is also important considering that most charges or transfers are earmarked such that property tax yields can cover discretionary finances. The intergovernmental fiscal transfers can be described as a patchwork of political liabilities of the past rather than connected with thorough compensation or service improvement functions. The fiscal base of local governments in Peru remains small for the municipalities and the incentive structure to enhance property tax revenues is far from optimal. The central government and sector institutions, which are in the Peruvian institutional design of the property tax responsible for the enablement environment, can reinforce local tax efforts. In the past the central government permanently changed the rules of the game, giving municipalities reduced predictability of policy choices. There are no relevant signs that a stronger property tax is captured by Peruvian interest groups. Since the central government has responsibility for tax regulation and partly valuation there has been little debate about financial issues on the local political agenda. Most council members are therefore not familiar with tax issues. If the central government did not set the tax rate and valuation then there would probably be a more vigorous public debate and an electorate that was better informed about local politics. Elected mayors (as political and administrative leaders) are not counterbalanced and held in check by an active council and/or by vigorous local political parties. Local politics are concentrated on the mayor, electoral rules, the institutional design and political culture – all of which are not helpful in increasing the degree of influence that citizens and associations have upon collective decision-making at the local level. The many alternations between democracy and autocracy have not been helpful in building strong institutions at the local level. Property tax revenues react slowly and the institutional context matters because an effective tax system as a public good can only be created if actors have long time horizons. The property tax has a substantial revenue potential, however, since municipalities are going through a transfer bonanza, it is especially difficult to make a plea for increasing their own revenue base. Local governments should be the proponents of property tax reform, but they have, in Peru, little policy clout because the municipal associations are dispersed and there exists little relevant information concerning important local policy issues. / Ob die Auswirkungen von Fiskaltransfers auf die Generierung von lokalen Steuereinnahmen positiv oder negativ sind, wird in der akademischen Literatur weiterhin offen diskutiert. Die Komplexität und Ambivalenz der Fiskalbeziehungen zwischen Gebietsköperschaften und Zentralregierung führt manchmal selbst innerhalb eines gleichen Landes zu unterschiedlichen Ergebnissen. Die hier vorliegende Untersuchung hinterfragt kritisch den oft postulierten Effekt in dem Eigeneinahmen durch Transferzahlungen substituiert werden. Während die meisten wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten Regierungen entweder als tax-maximizers (Leviathan) oder als fiscal lazy darstellen, zeigt diese Untersuchung, dass die meisten Bürgermeister spezifisch auf eine Vielzahl von Anreizen rational und pragmatisch reagieren. Obwohl die Eigeneinnahmen der Lokalregierungen in Peru generell niedrig sind, kann ein direkter Zusammenhang zwischen kontinuierlich ansteigenden Grundsteuereinnahmen und Fiskalzuweisungen eher verneint werden. Die Anreizstruktur in Peru zur Generierung von lokalen Steuereinnahmen ist hinderlich und teilweise sogar kontraproduktiv. Die Zentralregierung und gewisse Spezialinstitutionen spielen in Peru wichtige Funktionen hinsichtlich lokaler Steuergenerierung und sind mitverantwortlich für die positive Gestaltung der Anreizstruktur.

This thesis engages in a review of the existing literature and empirical analysis, which addresses the impact of immigrants, specifically illegal, on urban counties in Georgia. It is increasingly accepted that immigration plays a significant role in many aspects of government services, and that immigrants in some form, do provide income, but the debate wages between how much transfers an immigrant takes and the taxes an immigrant pays. However, little attention has been focused on illegal immigrants and their local fiscal effects on government taxes and transfers. This area has not been the focus of systematic inquiry or substantive critical consideration because most studies center around legal immigrants and their federal impacts. The results from this thesis call for a mobilization of a heightened enthusiasm for addressing research challenges in this field and for current immigration policy to strive to maximize the well-being of the native population.

Originally presented as the author's thesis--Uppsala universitet, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this report is to analyze the zoning change process in Austin, Texas. The report examines Austin's type of city government followed by an overview of zoning in the United States and Austin. The report chronicles the evolution of the Austin Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan and the Neighborhood Planning Area during the time period 1979-1997. Since 1997, zoning change protocol has become intertwined with neighborhood planning such that both must be discussed in detail. The extreme real estate cycles from 1982 to the present are also discussed. Economic conditions played a key role in the slow enactment of neighborhood planning in Austin. The report examines the jurisdictional boundaries of Austin and the governmental bodies charged with hearing zoning cases. After discussing the motivations of the market participants seeking zoning changes, the report analyzes four case studies to illustrate the basic types of zoning cases today. Finally, the report draws conclusions and offers suggestions for improving the efficiency and fairness of the zoning change process in Austin, Texas. / text

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