City Supply of Public Goods

The City of Kansas City in Missouri serves a large population. The city delivers services such as social welfare, public safety, and municipal services that include refuse collection and emergency medical services. The city administration oversees the smooth running of the international airport that is broadly known as MCI and the smaller municipal airport that is known as Charles B. Wheeler Airport in downtown Kansas City. City management is responsible for overseeing the effective operation of the city’s parks, community centers, and golf courses. The city also provides fire and police protection to its growing population. Bridges and street maintenance, street lighting and traffic light maintenance, sewage and water treatment, and overseeing the welfare of zoo animals are examples of the city’s day to day operations and management procedures. On the other hand, the city provides social services to those who are in need. Caring for every sector of the city is a good way of ensuring all are served well and that equitable distribution of resources go side by side with the concept of efficiency. According to Hyman (2011), eliminating wasted effort leads to more production from resources that are available for use. Thus, city management is making every effort to ensure effective delivery and use of existing services.

The following is a breakdown of the city expenditure on the various departments that make the operation of the city a reality. Tax collection is a major source of revenue for the City of Kansas City. General economic malaise and the effects of persistent depression have had adverse effects on the smooth running of the city (kcmo.org, 2012).

City of Kansas City Expenditure on Police:

2009-10: 190,095,187

2010-11: 191,363,123-There has been an increase in expenditure from the previous FY.

2011-12: 196,489,763- There has been an increase in expenditure from the previous FY.

City of Kansas City Expenditure on Health:

2009-10: 22,262,620

2010-11: 22,908,958-There was an increase of expenditure from the previous years.

2011-12: 23,311,688-A decrease was seen from the previous FY expenditure.

Neighborhood and Community Service:

2009-10: 28,378,184

2010-11: 28,978,888-An increase was seen from the past FY expenditure.

2011-12: 25,183,986-There was a decrease from the past FY expenditure.

There have been economic imbalances and variations in expenditure as can be seen from the city’s expenditure for the noted departments. Such imbalances and variations may have been caused by the slowing of the nation’s economy and the global economic meltdown that started in 2008.

States and the federal government at times experience budget deficits and budget surpluses. When there is excess spending in government over government receipts, there is a probability of budget deficit. When there is excess of government receipts over government spending, governments experience budget surpluses. Governments often find themselves facing the challenges of fiscal budgets. To overcome the burden of budget deficits, governments turn to the public to borrow what is necessary to cover the deficit. This is done to ensure the effective operations of government and avoid government shutdown.

References

Hyman, D.N. (2011). Public finance: A contemporary application of theory to policy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. 

Kcmo.org (2012). City of Kansas City, Mo. Submitted activity budget FY2012-13.  Retrieved from http://www.kcmo.org/idc/groups/citymanager/documents/citymanagersoffice/submittedactivitybdgtfy13.pdf