More stories about Finance

  • Pungent pest control

    One Chicago suburb is fortifying its relentless mosquito-abatement efforts with a weapon you'd be more likely to find in an Italian kitchen than inside an insecticide sprayer.

  • Building the budgeting process

    As in many cities, Houston's equipment replacement process is far from ideal. The city has an equipment acquisition fund of $22 million for fiscal year 2006, but funding levels go up and down yearly, according to the availability of money. So monies available don't always match up with needs.

  • Small, medium, or large

    David versus Goliath. Efficient versus ineffective. Weak versus strong. This is how many people may compare small towns to large cities. Small towns' public works departments have small staffs, less red tape, and fewer political problems while big cities have large bureaucracies, more money, and...

  • Open-ended truck specifying speeds process

  • Report: U.S. first responders underfunded

  • 2006 public works funding forecast

    Developing and monitoring budgets is not the favorite task of most public works professionals. Having the money to operate and develop the infrastructure, though, makes budgeting a necessary evil. For most cities, counties, and states, that evil is a little less onerous for 2006.

  • Underground utility location made easy

    Buried infrastructure (such as gas, phone, cable, electric, water, and sewer) is critical to all public works departments; it's a form of buried treasure. And, like buried treasure, underground pipe and cable can be hard to find.