Plan Implementation

Question 1

Purpose of taxes

Answer 1

• generate revenue to finance government
• redistribute income

Question 2

What are the three types of taxes?

Answer 2

1. progressive = percent of income paid in taxes increases as income rises - example is federal tax system
2. proportional = tax rate is the same regardless of income - example is property tax
3. Regressive = percentage of income paid in taxes decreases as income rises - example would be if dollar amount of tax was the same regardless of income

Question 3

What criteria should be considered during implementation of a tax?

Answer 3

• Fairness - should reflect the ability to pay
• Certainty - should be fairly applied
• Convenience - should be convenient to pay
• Efficiency - should allow collection and enforcement to be a straightforward process
• Productivity - should provide a stable source of revenue
• Neutrality - should not change the way a government would normall use its resources

Question 4

Consistency doctrine

Answer 4

• legal requirement that your regulations or capital improvements comply with the comprehensive plan
• may or may not be required by state law
• ordinances out of line with comp plan are subject to invalidation under the zoning enabling legislation
• some states also require plans to be internally consistent
• best practices have zoning, capital improvements, rezonings, and zoning amendments conform to the future land use maps in the comprehensive plan

Question 5

What are strategies for accountable implementation?

Answer 5

• connect plan implementation to the capital planning process
• connect plan implementation to the annual budgeting process
• establish interagency and organizational cooperation
• identify funding sources for plan implementation
• establish implementation indicators, benchmarks, and targets
• regularly evaluate and report on implementation progress
• adjust the plan as necessary based on the evaluation

Question 6

Conformance-based evaluation

Answer 6

• more literal
• sees planning as having the ability to control future development
• views plans as blueprints
• the more outcomes conform with the plans, the more successful the plan has been
• one variation focuses on evaluating the achievement of goals more generally even if not in strict accordance with land use plan

Question 7

Performance-based evaluation

Answer 7

• views plans as decision-making tools
• more in line with incrementalism
• achievement of end-state goals are not the main concern
• any result that is deemed desirable could be considered a success

Question 8

what are barriers to plan implementation?

Answer 8

• cultural
• political
• property rights
• legal challenges to proposed land use changes
• financial pressures to keep existing land use patterns in place

Question 9

What should a policy/plan evaluation framework consider?

Answer 9

• utility - who wants the evaluation results and for what purpose?
• feasibility - are the evaluation procedures practical, given the resources available?
• propriety - is the evaluation being conducted in a fair and ethical way?
• accuracy - are approaches at each step accurate?

Question 10

What are differences between policy evaluation and program evaluation?

Answer 10

• policy evaluation requires a system or community level of analysis
• program evaluation requires a program level of analysis
• the scale and scope of data collection may be greater with policy evaluations

Question 11

Performance perspective in policy evaluation

Answer 11

• considers utilitzation
• did the plan prove useful for subsequent decision-making?

Question 12

Conformance perspective in policy evaluation

Answer 12

• investigate the extent to which policies or implementation substantively align with the recommendations made by the plan

Question 13

What would the evaluation of general plans, laws, regulations, and other implementation involve?

Answer 13

• document review
• interviews with key informants
• data analysis

Question 14

What would the evaluation of policies, programs, and practices involve?

Answer 14

• broader set of project-participating organizations
• document review
• interviews or surveys of key informants