The state of capital budgeting in Louisiana’s local governments

Given the requirement that increased political and fiscal pressures have forced local governments to control spending more efficiently and reduce taxes, the issue is whether local governments have reacted to these pressures and adopted formal capital budgeting planning procedures. The research question proposed is what factors play a significant role in the decision of a government entity to adopt formal capital budgeting procedures. This research describes the current use of ‘proper’ capital budgeting practices in one state in comparison to a national study and examines possible causal and relational facts that may influence the existence of ‘proper’ capital budgeting practices at the local level of government.