Free Resources for Government Officials and Staff
Find answers to common questions and learn new skills through a variety of free resources developed by Vinson Institute experts.
Videos and Tutorials
10-minute tutorial: Explains the process put in place by the Transportation Investment Act of 2010, which gave voters in 12 Georgia regions the chance to vote on a 1 percent sales tax to fund transportation projects
7-minute video: The Institute's local government specialists explain the basics of full governmental consolidation, the process involved in consolidating, and some of the pros and cons of becoming a consolidated government.
Financial Management Tutorials
7-minute tutorial: Explains the differences between debits and credits and how to apply them in governmental accounting
6-minute tutorial: Gives an overview of millage rates and how to calculate them to generate a jurisdiction's needed property tax revenues
4-minute tutorial: Describes the requirements for fund balance reporting contained in the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's Statement No. 54
16-minute tutorial: Demonstrates the basic steps of creating a PivotTable in Microsoft Excel 2007 and using it to arrange and summarize data and drill down on details without the use of formulas
4 PDFs: Teach how to better understand the QuickBooks application as customized for governments using the state-required Uniform Chart of Accounts
Publications
Updated annually, Compliance Auditing is designed to help guide those responsible for conducting local government audits.
Download chapters from this guide for city officials on topics ranging from human resource management to historic preservation.
Reports and Other Free Resources
Policy Notes
Administrative License Suspension
Carol P. Cotton and Rimo Berg Carneiro (November 2006)
The Alternate Minimum Tax: Coming Soon to a Property Tax Near You?
Jason Seligman (June 2006)
Annexation Law in Georgia Serves Multiple Stakeholders and Is Relatively Comprehensive
Betty J. Hudson and Harry Hayes (May 2002)
As Georgia's Latino Population Grows, So Does the Need to Examine the Delivery of Governmental Services
Jorge H. Atiles and Stephanie A. Bohon (August 2002)
As Highway Costs Increase, Georgia Must Consider Revenue Options
Calvin Gibson and Thomas J. Pavlak (September 2002)
Benchmarking the Performance of Workers? Compensation Systems: How Does Georgia Compare with Other States?
Sharon E. Fox and Carol A. Telles (September 2000)
Child Well-Being and Economic Development in Georgia
Janet Bittner and Clif DuBois (July 2001)
Cellular Phone Use While Driving: Should It Be Banned or Restricted in Georgia?
William Gillespie and Seok-Eun Kim (June 2001)
Does City-County Consolidation Save Money? The Unification of Athens–Clarke County Suggests It Might
Richard W. Campbell and Sally Coleman Selden (March 2000, revised)
Don't "Hold the Phone": Georgia Public Favors a Ban on Handheld Cell Phone Use while Driving
Richard L. Clark (June 2002)
Education, Income, and Race Influence Lottery Play in Georgia
Joseph McCrary and Thomas J. Pavlak (October 2002)
Electronic Meetings in Georgia
John O'Looney (January 2001)
Few of Georgia's Local Governments Use Cameras to Enforce Red Light Violations—Despite State Authorization to Do So
Tatiana Pirotskaya and William Gillespie (March 2002)
Free Trade Area of the Americas and Expectations of Job Creation/Destruction: Recognizing the Need for State-Level Trade Adjustment Assistance
Xiaowei Li and Roger White (June 2005)
Georgia's Lottery Ranks High on Measures of State Lottery Revenues and Operations
Richard W. Campbell and William Gillespie (January 2002)
Georgians' Low Opinion of Public Officials' Ethics Could Affect Citizen Involvement in State and Local Governance
Richard L. Clark (November 2002)
Governments Put the Internet to Work, but Important Challenges Remain
John O'Looney (November 2001)
HOPE Scholarship Affects Where, Not Whether, Students Attend College
Chris Cornwell and David B. Mustard (December 2001)
HOPE, the Brain Drain, and Diversity: The Impact of the Scholarship on High Achievers and African Americans
Chris Cornwell and David B. Mustard (April 2002)
How Debt Managers View Debt Policies
Bill Simonsen, Mark D. Robbins, and Bill Kittredge (April 2001)
The Impact of Welfare Reform's TANF Program in Georgia: Criteria for Exemption from Its Work Requirements and Time Limits
Ed Risler, Larry Nackerud, Christopher R. Larrison, and Rebecca E. Rdesinski (August 2000)
Increasing Speed Limits in Georgia: Have Our Rural Highways Become More Dangerous?
George W. Dougherty Jr. (April 2000)
Infrastructure Development Would Benefit South Georgia
Richard W. Campbell, J. Griffin Doyle, Richard Hawkins, and Thomas Pavlak (December 2000)
Leading the Hemisphere: Existing Infrastructure and the Creation of a State-Level Trade Adjustment Assistance Policy
Xiaowei Li and Roger White (June 2005)
More than Maps: Making Full Use of Geographic Information Systems
John O'Looney (May 2001)
Moultrie Considers the Financial Impacts of Natural Gas and Electricity Deregulation
Andy Welch and Richard W. Campbell (November 2000)
New Census Numbers Suggest Gains for Rural Georgia
Douglas C. Bachtel (February 2001)
Pension Design, Retirement Well-Being, and the Residual Public Burden
Jason Seligman and Rana Bose (September 2006)
Property Tax Relief in Georgia: The Local-Option Sales Tax (LOST)
Changhoon Jung (March 2001)
Protecting Stream and River Corridors: Creating Local Riparian Buffer Ordinances
Seth J. Wenger and Laurie Fowler (February 2000)
Public Opinion in Georgia Splits Along Racial Lines
Richard L. Clark (February 2002)
SPLOST Has Little Effect on Borrowing to Finance Capital Improvements but Does Lead to Increases in County Spending
Changhoon Jung (July 2002)
Voter Confidence Shaken by 2000 Election, but Public Is Buoyed by State Efforts to Update Election Equipment
Richard L. Clark (October 2001)
Policy Papers
An Assessment of Municipal Annexation in Georgia and the United States: A Search for Policy Guidance
Paula E. Steinbauer, Betty J. Hudson, Harry W. Hayes, and Rex L. Facer II (2002), 72 pages
The Changing Labor Force: Workforce Development Challenges and Opportunities for Georgia's Governments
Gary Roberts (2003), 55 pages
The Impact of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) on Local Government Finance in Georgia
Changhoon Jung (2002), 65 pages
The Impact of Welfare Reform's TANF Program in Georgia: Criteria for Exemption from Its Work Requirements and Time Limits
Ed Risler, Larry Nackerud, Christopher R. Larrison, and Rebecca E. Rdesinski (2000), 69 pages
Increasing Speed Limits in Georgia: Have Rural Highways Become More Dangerous?
George W. Dougherty Jr. (2000), 47 pages
The Needs of Georgia's New Latinos: A Policy Agenda for the Decade Ahead
Jorge H. Atiles and Stephanie A. Bohon (2002), 51 pages
Protecting Stream and River Corridors: Creating Effective Local Riparian Buffer Ordinances
Seth J. Wenger and Laurie Fowler (2000), 68 pages
The Quality of Life of Single Mothers on Welfare in Georgia
Mónica María Alzate (2005), 32 pages
Who Plays the Georgia Lottery? Results of a Statewide Survey
Joseph McCrary and Thomas J. Pavlak (2002), 41 pages
Project Reports
Environmental Policy Reports and Documents
National Center for the Study of Counties Studies and Reports
