Local Government Education Webinar:

Using a “Stress Testing” Approach to Measuring the Fiscal Sustainability of Local Governments will air at Noon CST on Thursday, February 20. 

Measuring the fiscal sustainability of local governments is an important component of understanding the threats that they face in delivering public services. There have been many attempts to do this; nearly all of them share a common approach. A handful of (mostly financial) indicators are chosen in a more or less ad hoc manner. What results is only a partial understanding of the fiscal challenges facing a jurisdiction, with little predictive power. We take a different path and build on the work of the Federal Reserve Bank and other central banks in building “stress testing” models. The model is based on a full simulation of the economic and financial condition of a jurisdiction. The results will allow officials to not only get an early warning about future financial stress but to better understand the forces creating the stress.

Kenneth A. Kriz, Ph.D. is University Distinguished Professor of Public Administration at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Dr. Kriz conducts research focusing on subnational debt policy and administration, public pension fund management, government financial risk management, economic and revenue forecasting, and behavioral public finance. Dr. Kriz is a frequent presenter at public economics and public budgeting and financial management conferences and has published more than 40 journal articles and book chapters along with a textbook on quantitative research methods in public administration and a co-edited book on tax increment financing that was published by SUNY Press in July 2019. Dr. Kriz has consulted with several public and nonprofit organizations on financial and economic matters, including the cities of New York City, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Wichita and the states of Nebraska and Kansas. Dr. Kriz served as Vice-Chairperson of the City of Omaha, Nebraska Civilian Employees Retirement System from 2006 to 2011 and on the Board of Trustees of the Wichita, Kansas Police & Fire Retirement System and on the Joint Investment Committee for the city’s pension funds from 2014 to 2018. Dr. Kriz was a Fulbright Scholar in the Republic of Estonia during academic year 2004-05 and a Fulbright Senior Specialist in the Czech Republic in 2008.

There is no cost to attend the webinar, but REGISTRATION is required; Contact Nancy Ouedraogo at esarey@illinois.edu for more information.