Local Government Insights

COVID-19 Impact on Kalamazoo County, MI with Thomas Whitener

Thomas Whitener recently unseated a 13-year incumbent in a tight election that was fueled by promises of change and cultural shift that was highly sought after across the county. Thomas is licensed Real Estate Agent, entrepreneur, and former interactive systems and balance designer who is making a big impact on Kalamazoo County. He has built his career on openness and transparency and plans to establish a culture of accountability and fairness to all constituents.
Thomas joined us to discuss many of the challenges that local government leaders are facing and highlight some of the best insights across the industry.
Here's a sneak peek of the episode:
· What it was like to run a people focused campaign during the pandemic
· The roles and responsibilities of county treasurer
· The Delinquent Tax Responsibility and how that was affected by COVID
· Resources that helped constituents avoid foreclosure
· Budget shortfalls
· What recovery look like for Kalamazoo County as we climb out of the pandemic
Resources from today’s episode:
· Host Brennan Middleton, Director of Marketing at Avenu
· Avenu Insights & Analytics

This discussion with Thomas Whitener was taken from our show, Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
If you don’t use Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can find every episode here.

COVID-19 Impact on City of Eastvale, CA: The City That Never Stopped

Bryan was appointed as the City Manager of Eastvale, CA in 2018. Under his leadership the city has risen to new heights and become one of the Top 20 Best Places to Live in the country. In recent months amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Eastvale has seen immense growth across various industries including:
· 32.26% increase in new business applications and renewals
· 5.95% increase in property taxes
· 7.69% increase in sales & use tax
· 6.49 % increase in franchise fees
Learn the principles that made this city a success story during COVID!
This discussion was taken from our show Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.If you don’t use ApplePodcasts or Spotify, you can find every episode here.

ARPA Key Considerations for State & Local Governments

With the American Rescue Plan Act, state and local governments are seeing opportunities to address some of the challenges they are facing brought on by the pandemic. Learn what this meansyou’re your jurisdiction.
Mark Funkhouser, is the president of Funkhouser & Associates and the former mayor of Kansas City. He walks us through key considerations about the ARPA including:
· The “eligible use cases” that were released and the intent behind some of the areas addressed
· What governments be taking a look at when determining their overall strategy for spending
· Reporting requirements
· How to prioritize key areas
This discussion was taken from our show Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.If you don’t use Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can find every episode here.

An Essential Task: Taking Records Digital w/ John Buckley

As technology advances, there comes the strenuous task of updating old documents into the new systems. Without these updates, older documents might become lost in the transition.
John Buckley, Plymouth County Register of Deeds, walks us through the digital transformation of records:
A brief look at John’s career
A history of Plymouth’s legacy
Insight into transitioning old documents to digital
Perspective on the digital shift
This discussion with John Buckley was taken from our show Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.If you don’t use Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can find every episode here.

COVID-19 Impact on City of Pasadena, CA

COVID tested localities in new in challenging ways. While we are coming out of the pandemic, we can learn from different jurisdictions as we prepare for the future.
Matt Hawkesworth, Finance Director for the City of Pasadena, CA about the different areas of impact COVID-19 has had on the City and how his team has shifted priorities to help balance ever increasing budget deficits.
In this show we discuss:
· Top areas the City of Pasadena was affected over the past 12-18 months
· The approach to using reserves during the process
· The impact of restaurant closures in a city with one of the largest number percapita
· The American Rescue Plan
· The importance of resiliency
This discussion with Matt Hawkesworth was taken from our show Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.If you don’t use Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can find every episode here.

Local Governments Today Have an Opportunity to Build Trust: Smarter Digital Transformation is Key

When government doesn’t deliver the same level of digital services citizens have come to expect from their private-sector interactions, they lose an opportunity to build trust in their communities.
In this episode, we talk with Lou Schiavone, Chief Customer Officer at Avenu Insights and Analytics. For the past 20 years, he has focused on serving state and local governments nationwide, leading the sales, development and delivery of a diverse set of innovative solutions. Our discussion delves into:
• How governments can instill trust in their communities through digital transformation
• Government’s overreliance on paper driven processes
• Tax collection processes that are efficient, digitized, and automated
• Ways government can improve communication and build trust
• Key takeaways for government leaders looking to instill trust in their community
This discussion was taken from our podcast series, Local Government Insights. To hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple or your favorite podcast platform.
Your reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

How Local Governments Navigate Budget Shortfalls

Local governments are working harder than ever over the last year to manage budget shortfalls. Changes in revenue can impact key services for the community. Accurate forecasting and revenue maximization is key during these uncertain times.
In this episode, we talk with Paul Colangelo, the CEO of Avenu Insights and Analytics. He brings a wealth of experience to the conversation having over two decades of experience working with local governments. Our discussion delves into:
· Untapped revenue for local governments during the economic downturn
· Conducting a business license discovery and recovery review and how it helps with revenue enhancement
· Preparing for fluctuations in revenue streams as the economy recovers
· The long term impacts of the COVID pandemic.
This discussion was taken from our podcast series, Local Government Insights. To hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple or your favorite podcast platform.
Your reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

How Digital Technology is Giving Old Documents New Life w/ Alfredo Frauenfelder

For local governments, moving beyond fear of digitalization is essential to making their products and services more accessible for constituents.
In this episode, I talk with Alfredo Frauenfelder, Client Executive at Avenu Insights & Analytics, about how digital technology can give old documents new life and what that process looks like for local governments.
What we discussed:
Why preservation of documentation for future generations is critical
How to capture, store, and publish handwritten documents
The current state of historical documents for most governments
What challenges Local Governments face starting these projects
How digitalization can actually pay for itself over time
This discussion with Alfredo Frauenfelder was taken from our show Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts.
If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can find every episode here.

Budgeting Sales Tax Revenue

Local governments can fine-tune their budget forecasts by understanding thetremendous impacts that and state and federal programs have had on Sales TaxRevenue over the past year.
In this episode, we talk with Mark Bryson, Senior Economic Analyst at Avenu, who works with California jurisdictions and is an expert in helping them navigate the changes COVID has brought to revenue forecasts. Our discussion delves into:
· key concepts relevant to understanding and properly budgeting for future Sales Tax Revenues
• why these basic Sales Tax concepts are important to the budgeting process
· 5 things that occurred in California that have never happened before that impact Sales Tax Revenue
· what jurisdictions throughout the country should be thinking about when they are budgeting Sales Tax Revenue these days
This discussion was taken from our podcast series, Local Government Insights. To hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple or your favorite podcast platform.
Your reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Digital Government Strategies that Lower the Cost of Revenue Management

For the City of Vestavia Hills, in Alabama, effectively using data was key to navigating the challenges presented by the pandemic.
In this episode, we talked with Jeff Downes, City Manager of Vestavia Hills. We covered:
The challenges faced with providing more with less
How their team leverages technology to provide better revenue management
How Vestavia Hills dealt with the declining revenue, and increasing operational costs faced by localities.
Utilizing different data sources to glean insight in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Some of the most surprising trends to come out of the pandemic, and what changes may be permanent
This discussion with Jeff Downes was taken from our show Local Government Insights. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts.
If you don’t use Apple Podcasts, you can findevery episode here.