ABSTRACT
This concluding chapter is divided into two main sections. The first section is retrospective in scope in that it will present a brief summary and review of local government revenue patterns and trends since 1962 or “the road already taken.” Here, the numbers will tell the story of how local governments have chosen to fund the cost of the services and programs they provide to this point. The second section (“the road lying ahead”) will be prospective or forward looking at ways in which revenue patterns/trends and approaches may or should change in the future due to revenue inadequacies in the past, criticism of the rationale behind certain revenue sources, inequitable impact of various revenue sources, or changes in the public's thinking of local governments' role in providing specific services/programs. This section will explore prospects for raising additional revenue through (1) new non-tax types of OSR (e.g., urban wealth funds, entrepreneurial thinking in local government, payments in lieu of taxes, extra state aid and/or shared revenue, more federal aid, and additional gifts and donations) and (2) revenue savings due to reduced expenditures (while not new money, it means that these resources can be redirected to other service needs and priorities).
