Fiscal Solvency and Service Effectiveness Project

About this grant

This project continues Michigan State University’s examination of chronic fiscal stress in America’s older, industrial cities — this time focusing on the post-receivership restoration of local control and the best strategies for maintaining medium- and long-term fiscal solvency. The proposed research will assess the factors that determine the success or failure of states’ transition processes from local fiscal emergency to fiscal health and determine how different state policies shape local fiscal outcomes during and after receivership. The city of Flint will continue to play a prominent role in this project, both as a focus of the research and as a beneficiary of a six- to eight-month technical assistance effort intended to educate city administrators and city council about the research findings. The university will also publish two white papers and convene two meetings in order to disseminate the research findings with statewide and national audiences.