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GASB 77 Implementation in Colorado Local Governments  


Author:  Geoffrey Propheter.


Source: Volume 41, Number 04, Winter 2021 , pp.1-21(21)




Municipal Finance Journal

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Abstract: 

The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) adopted Statement 77 in 2015 in an effort to increase tax incentive transparency for the benefit of bond analysts and the general public, but GASB gave governments considerable discretion in implementing its standards. Two years of GASB 77 disclosures provide an opportunity to determine how the Statement’s implementation has been done well and how it has been done poorly. This study surveys financial statements for all 3,702 local Colorado governments active in 2017 in order to better understand variation in GASB 77’s implementation and the lessons we can learn from that variation. The study also aims to motivate an empirical research agenda to explore GASB 77’s impact on government decision making.

Keywords: Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB), GASB Statement 77, tax abatements, tax incentives, Colorado local government

Affiliations:  1: University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs.

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