Computer technology and the urban fiscal crisis

Abstract

The extensive use of computer technology is often proposed as one tool to alleviate the fiscal problems facing many urban local governments. Employing data from a nationwide study of computer use in more than 500 larger city and county governments, this paper assesses the current and near-future financial impacts of computer technology on local government operations. There have been a variety of financial benefits from computer use, although few are dramatic. Of all local government functions, computer technology has been applied most extensively in the finance-oriented functional areas. Most current automated applications are unsophisticated: but those applications most commonly under development concentrate on exploiting the technology more fully in order to enhance financial control and to improve the capabilities for revenue generation. Computer technology seems one of the most feasible techniques available for short-term relief from the symptoms of the urban fiscal crisis.