Public Finance Proposal and Presentation - The City of Detroit

Public Finance Proposal and Presentation - The City of Detroit

Description of the City of Detroit

The city of Detroit is situated in the south-eastern Michigan and is the Wayne County's seat. It is the largest city in the Michigan state. The city was founded in 1701 and incorporated in the year 1806. Detroit covers the area of 139.7 square miles. The population estimation of the city is around 713,777. The total population declined by 25 % since 2000, when it was around 951,270. The total number of employees is around 70,889. The number of employees in the year 2003 was around 107,645 (City of Detroit, 2013). The unemployment rate was, in June 2012, 18.3%, which is much higher than the state's 9.2% and from the national rate of unemployment which was 8.4%. The city is operationally organized with three distinct braches or entities, which are, Executive branch, Legislative Branch and other agencies (SMCOG, 2011).

The Mayor of the city is the head of the executive branch and is elected for a term of four years. The responsibility of implementing programs, managing daily operations and providing services is delegated by Charter to the executive branch. The City Council along with its agencies forms the Legislative branch. The City council must approve decisions regarding policy matters, purchasing of services and goods and about the misuse of budget. The latter entity, other agencies include the office of the City Clerk and the Election Commission.

Influences to the Public Budget

There are always political influences in any municipal budget. The bureaucratic officials influence the municipal budget in order to protect their own cause. The Legal and Ethics departments of the City of Detroit have put certain restrictions that will not allow the political officials to influence the budget.

The economy of any state has a strong impact on the budget planning process. The City's economy mainly depends on the automotive industry. The trends in this industry heavily influence the economy of the city. There are several other economic factors of a complex nature that are affecting the budget of the City. These factors include the spending patterns of consumers, value of United States dollar against other foreign currencies, trade restrictions, policies of federation and state regarding the auto industry, population emissions.

There is a huge cultural diversity in the City of Detroit. The population of black and white Non-Hispanic is 82% and 8% respectively. There is huge racism in the country (United States). This racism is also reflected in the City of Detroit too. Therefore, there are mostly blacks on the top positions of the government. This diversity influences the municipal budget with a great deal. The budget department is always under immense pressure when formulating the budget. If the Blacks find that the certain budget is not fulfilling their necessities, then there can be massive riots in the City (ODI, 2007).

Social sector always has some influences to any municipal budget. The civil society of the City of Detroit ...