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The Center for Municipal Finance (CMF) enables students and faculty to engage the major financial issues of the day facing state and local governments in the United States and around the globe. Some of the topical and enduring issues of municipal finance include financing infrastructure, the use of municipal bonds, privatization, pension liabilities and the efficacy of reform, tax base adequacy, and more.
“We need to rethink the practices and techniques of contemporary municipal finance to provide government services more efficiently and to manage pressing problems related to the public sector,” said Harris Professor Christopher Berry, who directs the CMF.
June 17th, 2020 CMF Launches research page on Property Taxes and Equity. View Here
May 30th, 2020 CMF RA, Eric Langowski presented at SatRday Chicago 2020 virtual conference on transparency, equity in property taxes and an R package for property tax analysis.Read More/Register
April 17th, 2020 Paula Worthington addresses COVID-19 Fiscal Pressures in Illinois:Illinois State Tax Revenues - April 17th Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund - April 6th State Retirement Systems - April 6th
March 24th, 2020 Crain’s Chicago Business, "This pre-existing condition makes Illinois finances especially vulnerable to COVID". Read More
March 21st, 2020 The municipal bond market is experiencing a massive crunch as investors react to the coronavirus pandemic; featuring Michael Belsky. Read More
March 20th, 2020 Crain's Chicago Business: "There is no doubt this (virus) is going to have a significant economic impact on Illinois." Read more
March 10th, 2020 In the Detroit News, Chris Berry addresses Detroit's property tax methodology continuing to harm its poorest residents. Read More
February 28th, 2020 The Bond Buyer tribute: Municipal market mourns loss of Jim Spiotto Read More
See the latest CMF press coverage.
Michael D. Belsky is the Executive Director of the Center for Municipal Finance at Harris and teaches a course on the fundamentals of municipal bonds as part of the Municipal Finance Certificate Program. Mr. Belsky has over 30 years of experience in the Municipal Bond Industry.
Gain in-depth expertise in the process, politics and economics of public revenue and expenditure decisions. Learn the practices and techniques of modern financial administration, and the operation of the municipal securities market.
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Christopher Berry's research interests are in the political economy of American local government and the politics of federal spending. Full Bio
Michael D. Belsky has worked in the municipal finance industry for more than three decades. He spent most of his career as group managing director of the Public Finance Group at Fitch Ratings. He also served two terms as a member of the City Council in Highland Park, Illinois (1995–2003) and two terms as mayor (2003–2011). Full Bio
Paula R. Worthington has served as an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and as a research officer, economic advisor, and senior research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Full Bio