Restrictions on Government Revenues Over

Restrictions on Government Revenues

Over the last several years, the issue of how to spend government revenues has been increasingly brought to the forefront. Part of the reason for this, is because all levels of government have been maintaining tremendously high deficits. This has caused the way that many different revenues are spent, to be carefully scrutinized because of these record debt levels. Recent evidence of this can be seen with the U.S. national debt topping $14 trillion (the highest in U.S. history). (Knoller, 2011) This is important, because it shows how in the future the way that various projects and revenues are spent will face increasing amounts of focus. As a result, this more than likely will mean that different restrictions will be placed on how various government tax receipts are spent. To fully understand how to deal with these challenges requires: examining different restrictions that applied to government revenues and what alternatives the public administrator has available to them. Together, these different elements will provide the greatest insights, as to the underlying challenges facing public managers in the future and how to adapt to them.

Different Restrictions that can be Placed on Government Revenues

There are two main restrictions that can be placed on how the government will spend different revenues these include: creating special funding programs / earmarks and limiting the overall amounts of money available to particular area. Creating special funding programs is when the government is focused on spending the income received from a particular area on certain projects. This could include designating that certain funds collected will go to areas ranging from: special projects to paying down the debt service. In this case, the idea is to limit how the revenues received from different taxes and fees will be spent, by specifically stating what the funds can be used for. Limiting the overall amount of money available to a particular program, is when the government could place restrictions on how much funding certain programs will receive. This is usually set in the form of a cap on all spending that a particular department will have available to them. These different elements are important, because they are highlighting how governments can place severe restrictions, on the way various revenues are spent. (Ruppel, 2010, pp. 32 -- 42)

Alternatives for the Public Administrator

Therefore, all public administrators need to understand how to adjust to these different challenges in the future. This means that they must know how to do more with less. One possible way that this could be accomplished is by outsourcing certain city services to private corporations. If they could offer to do the same job for less money, this could help public managers to adjust to changes that are taking place from these sharp cuts. At the same time, the government could also form strategic alliances with nonprofit organizations and charities. In this case, they could see if some of the funds for delivering different services would help to support these organizations. At which point, the two could work together to address the different challenges facing the public. This strategy would help to improve the overall services that are being provided, while giving public administrators greater amounts of flexibility.