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The Great Recession’s Impact on the City of Phoenix’s Budget  


Author:  Jeffrey  Chapman.; Joanna  Iacovelli.; Lee Stanford  Farr.


Source: Volume 32, Number 01, Spring 2011 , pp.115-142(28)




Municipal Finance Journal

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Abstract: 

This paper describes the effects of the Great Recession on the City of Phoenix, Arizona, with emphasis on the specific variables that affected the city’s fiscal environment as well as on its responses to changes in these variables. Phoenix is a rapidly growing city that is heavily dependent on development—both residential and commercial. When residential and commercial construction fell dramatically as the Great Recession took hold, Phoenix saw its revenue growth plummet (for a brief period it was negative), and the city had to take action. This paper examines the changes in the city’s fiscal condition during the recession and demonstrates the many ways that a well-managed city can respond to fiscal stress.

Keywords: Demographics; politics; home prices; urban revenue sharing; primary and secondary property valuation; fund budget structure

Affiliations:  1: Arizona State University; 2: Arizona State University; 3: Arizona State University.

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