Forms of government and spending on common municipal functions: a longitudinal approach

Abstract

This study analyses whether reformed cities (council-manager form) spend less than unreformed cities (mayor-council and commission forms) by examining per capita spending on common municipal functions of a panel of 504 American cities with populations over 50,000 during 1980-2000. Unlike most previous studies, the study employs a fixed effects model of the pooled cross-sectional time-series research design to better capture changing effects of municipal structure on spending level. Findings in the study indicate that per capita spending on common municipal functions in reformed cities is not statistically different from unreformed cities. However, when the two narrowest common municipal functions (police and fire) are examined, spending in council-manager cities is significantly less than in the non-council-manager cities for the police function, but not significant for the fire function. The findings suggest further detailed studies should be conducted considering population size, functional scope (responsibilities), forms of municipal government (e.g. newly emerging hybrid structure cities), region, metro status, and other variables for a better understanding of the effects of municipal structure on the level of spending. Furthermore, a more elaborated conceptual approach should be developed to better capture the factors affecting municipal spending level.