PUB 205: Public Finance and Budgeting

Course Description

This course will focus on introducing public administrators to the basic principles of public finance and the rigors of public budgeting. This course will familiarize students with capital and operating budgets, public borrowing and bonding, the typical public budgeting process, and the relationship between policy-making and resource allocation. (3 credits)

Prerequisite

  • None

Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

  1. Explain the role of government in the economy, including the provision of certain goods and services due to market failure, externalities, and public goods.
  2. Develop an understanding of the political context of government budgeting and finance.
  3. Explain the typical budget process, cycle, and institutions.
  4. Explain and describe the general spending patterns of the federal government and state and local governments.
  5. Describe different budget formats such as traditional, performance, program, and zero-based budgets.
  6. Describe the structure of capital budgets and capital project funding options.
  7. Differentiate between the major sources of government revenue including income, consumption, and property taxes.
  8. Examine alternate sources of government revenue such as user fees, user charges, and sales by public monopolies.
  9. Identify issues surrounding and various techniques used to develop revenue forecasts, revenue estimates, and tax expenditure budgets.
  10. Describe the complex relationships between the federal, state, and local governments that work to provide and fund goods and services, both independently and cooperatively.

Course Activities and Grading

AssignmentsWeight

Discussions (Weeks 1-8)

60%

Midterm Exam (Week 4)

20%

Municipal Budgeting Project (Week 8)

20%

Total

100%

Required Textbooks

Available through Charter Oak State College's Book Bundle

  • Menifield, Charles E. Basics of Public Budgeting and Financial Management. 4th ed. Hamilton Books, 2021. ISBN-10: 0-7618-7211-6 or ISBN-13: 978-0-7618-7211-5
  • Rubin, Irene S. Politics of Public Budgeting; Getting and Spending, Borrowing and Balancing. 9th ed. Congressional Quarterly, 2020. ISBN-10: 1-5443-2505-3 or ISBN-13: 978-1-5443-2505-7

Additional Resources

  • The course will make use of web sites referenced in the Rubin textbook. For the Municipal Budget Project, students will also have to obtain and utilize the budget and related documents for a municipality of their choice.

Course Schedule

Week

SLOs

Readings and Exercises

Assignments

1

1,2

Topic: The Contexts of Public Budgeting

  • Reading:
    • The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapter 1
    • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapter 1
    • review suggested Web sites
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material

2

2,3

Topic: Budget Process and Structures

  • Reading:
    • The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapter 2
    • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapter 3
    • review suggested Web sites
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material

3

2,3,5

Topic: Budget Methods and Reforms

  • Reading:
    • The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapters 3 and 6
    • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapter 4
    • review suggested Web sites
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material

4

2,6

Topic: Capital Budgets, Debts and Balanced Budgets

  • Reading:
    • The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapters 4 and 7
    • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapter 6
    • review suggested Web sites
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete Midterm Exam
  1,2,3,5,6

Midterm Exam

  • The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapters 1-4,6, 7
  • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapters 1, 3, 4, 6
 

5

2,4

Topic: Expenditure Dynamics

  • Reading:
    • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapter 5
    • review suggested Web sites

  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material

6

2,7,8,9

Topic: Revenue Dynamics

  • Reading:
    • The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapter 5
    • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapter 2
    • review suggested Web sites
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material

7

2,9,10

Topic: Budget Execution and Implementation

  • Reading:
    • The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapter 8
    • The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapters 7 and 8
    • review suggested Web sites
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material

8

10

Topic: Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations and Budget Decision-Making

  • Reading:
    • Review The Basics Of Public Budgeting And Financial Management, Chapter 5
    • Read The Politics Of Public Budgeting, Chapter 9
    • review suggested Web sites
  • Read assigned chapters
  • Participate in the Discussions
  • Review the Lecture material
  • Complete the Municipal Budget Project

  • Complete Evaluation

COSC Accessibility Statement

Charter Oak State College encourages students with disabilities, including non-visible disabilities such as chronic diseases, learning disabilities, head injury, attention deficit/hyperactive disorder, or psychiatric disabilities, to discuss appropriate accommodations with the Office of Accessibility Services at OAS@charteroak.edu.

COSC Policies, Course Policies, Academic Support Services and Resources

Students are responsible for knowing all Charter Oak State College (COSC) institutional policies, course-specific policies, procedures, and available academic support services and resources. Please see COSC Policies for COSC institutional policies, and see also specific policies related to this course. See COSC Resources for information regarding available academic support services and resources.