GeneralBoulder8388
Please answer the following questions in great detail: 1. There…
Please answer the following questions in great detail:
1. There are three accounting bases: accrual, modified accrual, and cash. Please provide an example of a financial transaction (e.g., a government purchases a printer). What are the differences between these accounting bases in recognizing revenues and expenses/expenses? For accountability and control, why is accrual accounting preferred over cash accounting?
2. The Army Corps of Engineers is planning a new dam project that will provide $30 million in electricity per year for the next 40 years. It will cost $1 billion to build. Budget analysts who prepared an analysis of the project used a discount rate of 2.66% (based on 10-year Treasury note rates) and discovered that the project had a negative present value. Bechtel Corp. analysts used a discount rate of 0.12% (based on 1 year treasury bill rates) and a positive present value for the project if approved. Explain what a discount rate is and why it is significant. Then explain why it makes such a difference in this case. Choose one of the discount rates and explain why it is the better option.
3. Assume that a community has a socially optimal level of public service. Choose two common methods for determining budget allocations and assess their ability to ensure that the socially optimal level of service is chosen.
4. Assume you’ve been tasked with creating a budget for UConn’s SPP for fiscal year 2024. Consider three budget items: salaries and wages, benefits, and supplies. Use the Process Model of Government to explain the budgeting process’s inputs, activities, outputs, and outcomes. What does a budget that prioritizes inputs over outcomes look like? Which budget do you suggest? Why?
5. The UConn 2000 program provides funding for infrastructure upgrades at the University of Connecticut, its campuses, and the UConn Health Center. The bonds are general University obligations that are further secured by the State’s commitment to pay the debt service on the bonds. Bonds worth up to $4.3 billion will be issued as part of a 28-year capital program to rebuild and renovate the University. (See https://buyctbonds.com/bond-program-summaries/ for more information). Is the UConn 2000 program a pay-as-you-go or pay-as-you-use financing model? Apply the standard arguments for pay-as-you-go and pay-as-you-use financing to explain why policymakers chose one over the other. Make sure to use three arguments.
6. Assume you are a budget analyst tasked with determining citizen demand for a new elementary school in a Connecticut town. Select three of the methods discussed in “gauging demand through other methods” to explain how you will complete the task. Explain how each method will function. Explain the advantages and disadvantages of each method. Explain why you recommend one method to your boss.
7. The “basic budgeting problem” is defined differently by V.O. Key and John Mikesell. What exactly are their definitions? What are the distinctions? Which definition do you agree with and which do you disagree with? Why? In your response, use one example to demonstrate your points.
8. You work as an analyst for the Transportation Committee, and a legislator has asked why the state spends more money on this activity every year, while road and public transportation infrastructure deteriorates. Assume that infrastructure is deteriorating and that spending growth rates are lower than the CPI. Using transportation as an example, explain the difference between price changes and spending effort.
9. What exactly is the distinction between a financial audit, a program audit, and a program evaluation? Explain where they fit in the budget cycle and how they help with budgetary decisions.
10. On February 13, 2023, UConn’s Executive Vice President for Finance and Chief Financial Officer sent an email informing the university of a potential budget cut from the governor’s proposed state budget for fiscal year 2024/2025. (See https://today.uconn.edu/2023/02/uconn-budget-request-vs-proposedfunding/ for more information.) Apply three of the seven “response to proposed cuts strategies” to make a case for why UConn’s budget should not be cut.
