MuniNet Guide
The Center for Municipal Finance atThe University of Chicago is please to host the archive of MuniNet Guide, a leading source of research on state and local government finance.
University of Chicago
MuniNet Guide
Introduced in March 1997 as a subscription-based, monthly print newsletter, MuniNet Guide & Review was originally designed to help state and local governments and the municipal finance community navigate the then-uncharted territory of the Internet. Its early focus was on guiding users to relevant, reputable online resources, as well as highlighting elements of a quality municipal or government-related website.
The MuniNetGuide.com website was launched in late 1999, at which time it became available to the public free of charge. Its tagline, “your hub for municipal-related research” guided its evolution over the next 20+ years, as it became a valuable resource for an increasingly wider audience, including citizens, students, researchers and other civic-minded groups and individuals.
With a heavy accent on municipal finance, MuniNet Guide provided cutting-edge, difficult-to-locate articles and commentary on the municipal bond market, state and local government issuers, fiscal distress, public pensions and municipal bankruptcy.
MuniNet Guide Featured Articles
Commentary: Just Wipe Out Public Debt! — Not a Solution for Puerto Rico or Anyone Else
Feb 22, 2020
- by James Spiotto With the end of the flurry of Congressional activity over impeachment, followed by a general yearning for the end to partisan conflicts, we now look to this year and what issues can be addressed before the national election. There remain lingering...
What Illinois Can Learn From the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and Even Puerto Rico About Public Pension Reform
Aug 1, 2019
By James E. Spiotto The U.S. Supreme Court and virtually all state courts have recognized what the Rhode Island Supreme Court recently reaffirmed: insurmountable, unaffordable government contractual obligations for public pensions must be capable of reasonable and...
Not All Cities Have A Pension Problem
Jun 26, 2019
By Richard A. Ciccarone, President & CEO of Merritt Research Services, LLC and Co-Owner of MUNINET, LLC The Top 21% of Cities With High Pension Funding Levels Deserve Attention and Usually Praise With so much well-deserved negative attention focused on cities...
Worried About Public Pensions? Counties Often Have Lower Burdens
Jan 29, 2019
Counties Often Underappreciated Despite Generally Improving Fund Balances and Lower Debt and Pension Liabilities By Richard A. Ciccarone County governments are generally a good place to start your search for governments with positive financial conditions as well as...
Fiscal Year 2017 Municipal Bond Audit Times Are Still Too Slow
Dec 5, 2018
Municipal Bond Audit Times Show Slight Improvement Since 2015 But Most Still Late to the Table -- The County, State and City Sectors are the Least Timely By Richard A. Ciccarone Municipal bond analysts and investors are accustomed to waiting a lot longer for...
Chapter 9 Municipal Bankruptcy Statistics: Use by Number, Type and Year
Jun 14, 2018
Historically, the use of Chapter 9 bankruptcy by a municipality is still rare, and a last resort. MuniNet Guide's update on historical and current municipal bankruptcy statistics We are providing an update on our 2015 piece on municipal bankruptcy statistics. One of...
Paying for Yesterday’s Public Services with Tomorrow’s Funds – Risking City Fiscal Stress
May 21, 2018
Are Fixed Costs Squeezing Out State and Local Governments' Ability to Deliver Public Services? In the back of every analyst’s mind, whenever they assess public pension risk and the potential for fiscal stress, is the question of whether or not the annual cost to pay...
U.S. State Crime Rates – Comparing Types of Crimes Across the States
Jan 5, 2018
Report - U.S. State Crime Rates by Type for All 50 States, D.C., and Puerto Rico This report gives researchers and citizens an opportunity to look at U.S. state crime rates, what crimes are being committed and in what frequency, for all 50 states plus Puerto Rico and...
Aging Infrastructure Is a Problem, From Any Point of View
Nov 29, 2017
Accounting Approach Shows Aging Infrastructure Kicks Additional Costs to the Future Validating the Aging Infrastructure Problem from the Engineer’s Point of View There are few public-minded cities and governmental officials that are unaware of America’s recent habit...
Re-Assessing the Credit Quality of America’s Cities in 2017 – Part One: Examining Financial Health Against a Backdrop of High Ratings
Jul 7, 2017
Are Credit Ratings Reflecting True Risk? More than two years ago, MuniNet published a five-part series on Assessing the Credit Quality of America's Cities, intended to examine and create a framework to analyze the financial health of cities. With this first...
Fiscal Contagion: When Distressed Municipalities Put States and Local Clusters at Risk
Jan 31, 2017
by Richard A. Ciccarone When a municipal government suffers severe fiscal problems, be it a city, county, school district, utility district, or any other special purpose government, those problems have a tendency to impact or be shared by other governments. Bond...
Who Watches the Watchdogs? Be Your Own Media Bias and ‘Fake’ News Analyst
Jan 6, 2017
The Best Armor Against Media Bias, Fake News, and Other Disinformation is Your Own Education and Ability to Identify It MuniNet takes a look at why bias matters, the difference between bias, spin, and truly 'fake' news, and provides you with tools to...