PAF G 625    Public Budgeting and Financial Management
Spring II - 3 Credits
MSPA Program
UMass Boston

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The public budgeting process in theory and practice. Students are introduced to contemporary approaches to public budgeting as well as to the difficulty of planning in the public sector, the dilemmas of choice and of priority setting, the results of incrementalism, and the nature of budgetary "rationality." In addition, the course examines the nature and scope of public financial management at the state and local level. It familiarizes students with state and local government financial reporting and accounting, current operating expenditures, techniques for evaluating capital expenditures and products. It explores borrowing and debt management, evaluation of municipal credit quality, managing cash assets and liquid securities, simulations and financial forecasting, and evaluating and controlling financial management practices.