Government of Austin: Tax & Other Revenues for Financial Progress - Essay Sample

Introduction

For any government to developed and maintain stable state financial requirements are of great importance (Mukherjee, 2019), the government of the city of Austin, therefore, have established different methide of collecting revenue to generate funds for city's progress. The chief financial sources in the government are the tax, which is obtained from the people, businesses, and organizations operating in the town. Besides, other sources of income include corporate income, federal exercise revenue, and individual income.

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The city of Austin engages in various purchases and developmental activities that fall under the government's expenditure (Babu & Hossain, 2019). From the reports, it significant that the government monitors these expenditures through auditing to ensure clarity and transparency of financial operations within the city. The Mayor is a critical factor in leadership and the most influential element in terms of the city's financial services. Financial reports are addressed to Mayor to help in decision making and to determine the future progress of the town and the government. This paper, therefore, analyses Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) of the city of Austin (Babu & Hossain, 2019).

In any government, financial operations determine development and general progress, and it is, however, essential to consider tracking all the financial documents. Therefore, from the review, the government of Austin City is considerate of monitoring all the financial operations, statements, and reports to ensure transparency (Bartlett, 2016). One of the most significant elements is that the Mayor is responsible and concern about the financial operations in the city.

Data accuracy reflects on the transparency of a project of operation, based on the financial considerations that the government put in place to address economic issues in the city is significant, and it implies that the government observe the regulations and maintain a positive reputation. The reports sent to the heads of the government in the city of Austin are based on the services offered by the government to the people, the economic performance in the town in contrast with national economic trends and international trends as well (City of Austin, 2019).

The government significantly monitors the revenue and explore different sources of income for the government. The government must consider demographic factors in terms of population, income rates, and age to determine the amount of revenue (City of Austin, 2019). the approach is one of the best ways of ensuring balance in revenue that is gathered from the public and the development operations if the city.

Besides, the government has dramatically used economic factors such as rates of inflation, interest rates, and the level of competition in the national and international standards to determine its financial performance. People's engagement in building the city is based on business operations, the number of purchases, and the rates of consumption within the population. Tax being the primary source of income for the government of, however, has different challenges as some of the products of the people are tax differently. The approach is beneficial to increasing government income; however, it has affected the way people perceive the government and financial operations within the city (City of Austin, 2019).

The services and products that are involved in the cycle of the economy are accounted for; the financial data collected from most of the operations are used to determine financial performance and compare with other governments at the national and international levels. Companies and business organizations operating in the city are required to account for their income order to help the government account for income rates and determine the rates of tax required to be imposed on each of the businesses and companies operating within the city.

Financial policies such as accounting operations, financial planning, and auditing serves a great purpose for economic and financial performance in the city. The government is required to conduct annual audits through an independent body of CPA organization as well as issue the CAFR report within six months after the fiscal year. These elements and policies considerably reflect on the government's ability to manage and observe financial operations.

Furthermore, the government considers the balance sheet an essential factor in determining its financial operations. It is regarded as a critical financial element; in my opinion, it is beneficial to show the assets and some of the services offered in a particular period. Through some of the financial documents such as income statements, the government can determine whether its making loss or profit in the long run.

Based on annual fiscal budgeting, the government accounts for all the financial operations each year to compare with other sources of funds. For instance, the government uses all the financial activities ending September 30th in a particular year and compare it with cooperate annual financial reports ending June 30th for a specific year. The approach implies that the government is more considerate of capturing the city's overall net position in the economy (Dupuy et al. 2016). It is, therefore, helpful in making future decisions for the economic development of the city. Financial performance is a critical factor in the economy; the government has dramatically considered exploring locals as the source of income through taxes. The government's budgetary balance significantly influences taxation rates in the city.

The government hampers some of the goods and services that have been ordered and not yet delivered. The approach is aimed at ensuring that financial operations within the city are monitored, and the government generates revenue from each service and products offered to the public. The process implies that the government can considerably explore all the sources of income available in the economy to generate funds for development and ensure the accuracy of financial performance within the city. It is, however, inconsistent because these goods and services may not be fully reflecting on the government's fund balance sheet.

Other sections of financial reports on financial operations in Austin City, such as the auditor's responsibilities, management responsibilities are essential to reflect the overall financial performance of the government. In the financial section, where the government provides graphical summaries of income, and the level of expenditure for a particular year, transparency and clarity of financial data is achieved.

Most of the budgetary information presented in the reports reflect on the government's financial performance from various perspectives. The government mainly considers financial data as critical factors for ensuring proper financial income and expenditure. The leaders play an essential role in determining the economic progress in the city through the regulation of tax rates and other sources of income in the economy. CAFR is useful for the government to determine economic growth and financial performance (Dupuy et al. 2016),

The government of the City of Austin has established an excellent procedure for addressing financial information to the stakeholders and the general public. However, despite the elements that the budgetary disclosure presents, there are other relevant elements concerning the stakeholders that are not addressed sufficiently. This is because the stakeholders play a critical role in influencing financial operations within the city. Corporate annual reports, for example, address information regarding the regulators and shareholders based every year of specified years. The reports have to be consistent and address all the issues annually. At the same time, CAFR presets reports to the general public, which neglects some of the vital information concerning financial operations and performance in the city of Austin.

References

Babu, M. A., & Hossain, M. M. (2019). The usefulness of the Corporate Annual Reports: Evidence from Dhaka Stock Exchange. Asian Business Review, 9(1), 27-36. doi: 10.18034/abr. v9i1.242 A

Bartlett, D. M. (2016). Government Financial Disclosures: The Timeliness of State Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports. Retrieved from https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1270&context=honors

The city of Austin. (2019). Comprehensive Annual Financial Report [PDF] (pp. 1-300). Texas: City of Austin Controller's Office. Retrieved from https://assets.austintexas.gov/financeonline/downloads/cafr/cafr2018.pdf

Dupuy, K., Ron, J., & Prakash, A. (2016). Hands off my regime! Governments' restrictions on foreign aid to non-governmental organizations in poor and middle-income countries. World Development, 84, 299-311. Retrieved from https://jamesron.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Dupuy_Ron_Prakash-WD_2016_Proofs.pdf.

Mukherjee, S. (2019). Inter-governmental fiscal transfers in the presence of revenue uncertainty: The case of goods and services tax (GST) in India. Retrieved from https://advance.sagepub.com/articles/Inter-Governmental_Fiscal_Transfers_in_the_Presence_of_Revenue_Uncertainty_The_Case_of_Goods_and_Services_Tax_GST_in_India/7790120/1.