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Walk Audit Toolkit
June 2025by: Caroline Daigle, AICP, Christi Nakajima, Kate DoughtThis toolkit offers step-by-step guidance on preparing and conducting a walk audit. -
Franklin, TN, FY 2025 Operating Budget: Planning & Sustainability
2025This web page provides a wide range of performance data for the city's Planning & Sustainability department. -
Performance Measurement
June 2025This web page breaks down the stages of performance measurement operations in local governments for SMART goals. -
Community Strategies to Address Data Center Development and Operation
September 2025This briefing paper examines land use challenges and community impacts related to data centers. -
A Primer for Local Governments: Understanding Data Centers
August 2025This briefing paper provides an overview of what data centers are and how local governments should plan for them. -
What Happens When Data Centers Come to Town?
July 2025by: Terry Nguyen, Ben GreenThis briefing paper discusses the growth of data centers and their impacts on the environment and local communities. -
Community Benefits Agreement Database
Updated 2026This clearinghouse provides an overview of community benefit agreements (CBAs) and includes a database of CBAs for different projects including data centers. -
From Energy Use to Air Quality, the Many Ways Data Centers Affect US Communities
World Resources Institute Insights, February 2026by: Carla Walker, Ian GoldsmithThis article discusses data center developments and their impacts on communities. -
Data Centers Are Here, and More Are Coming. Our Zoning Is Not Ready.
Smart Growth America, April 2026by: Sam GordonThis blog post discusses land use and zoning challenges associated with data centers. -
Complete Streets Stronger Economies
July 2026by: Dustin RobertsonThis report explores the economic benefits of designing streets to accommodate all users. -
State Statutory Limits on Local Zoning for Home Occupations
Updated May 2026This interactive map shows which states have adopted statutes that limit local zoning for home occupations. -
Off the Shelf and Into Action, How to Create an Implementable Comprehensive Plan
October 2023This webinar presents five keys for an implementable plan: focus on real, relevant issues; organize the plan the way officials and public think; devise practical and workable recommendations; recruit partners and create capacity to implement the plan; get "community" ownership and commitment. -
Toolkit for Gender Inclusive Mobility Planning
2026by: Leah Gerber, AICPThis fact sheet summarizes key considerations and principles for gender-inclusive mobility planning. -
Reining in Big Tech: Policy Solutions to Address the Data Center Buildout
December 2025by: Deanna Noel, Meghan PazikThis report proposes policy strategies and solutions for state and local governments in response to Big Tech's pressure to expand the national network of data centers without public input and governmental or environmental oversight. -
Monitoring and Evaluation in Municipal Planning: Considering the Realities
69(4), 2003by: Mark SeasonsThis article analyzes monitoring and evaluation as a crucial component of a planner's process, and the steps needed for consideration in order to tell the full story of a community from the data. -
Responsible Agentic AI Playbook
August 2026This guide is designed to help state and local agencies safely develop and deploy atificial intelligence agents in public service delivery. -
Politics and Planning Agency Performance Lessons from Seattle
51(2), 1985by: Linda Dalton, FAICPThis article analyzes the historical struggle of planning agencies and their roles in departments and the central office in depicting how their work contributes to the public benefit. -
Washington, D.C., Performance Plans and Reports: Planning and Economic Development
2025This web page holds a collection of performance plans and reports for the Office of Planning and Economic Development, Office of Planning, Office of Zoning, and the Department of Housing and Community Development from fiscal years 2020 to 2026. -
Comprehensive User Fee Study – City of Carson
January 2022This case study is a comprehensive study on user fees, rent/use, and fines for the City of Carson to update their fees, particularly for their community development services as they are grossly undercharging for some services. -
2023 User and Impact Fee Study
July 2024This web page supplies the City of San Luis Obispo’s comprehensive citywide user fee study, their current and proposed user fees, FAQs about their development impact fees, and public opportunities for comment. -
Quarterly Summary of State & Local Tax Revenue (QTAX)
February 2025This web page provides a bank of data for quarterly summaries of state and local tax revenue organized in data tables, tools, apps, or methodology, available for viewing or downloading. -
County Fee Schedule – Fairfield County, South Carolina
2025This web page lists the fee schedule for the county, including the assessor’s office, community development, public works, solid waste, transit, and the fire department. -
Planning Department Fee Schedule – Norwich, Connecticut
2025This web page provides the fee schedule for the planning department, as aligned with the City Plan. -
What to Know About Utility Franchise Agreements and Fees
Minnesota Cities Magazine, December 2023by: Trisha DuncanThis blog post introduces the concept of utility franchise agreements as a contractual understanding between a city and a utility company regarding maintenance and operation, right-of-way, and permitting. -
Utility Franchise Fee Update
June 2020by: John Farrell, AICP CEP, Lilli AmbortThis blog post highlights examples of cities using franchise agreements to fund portions of their climate and energy goals, by creating clean energy partnerships or leveraging the agreements towards commitment to clean energy. -
Highly Recommended: Understanding Municipal Revenue
City & Town, December 2024This web page breaks down municipal revenue sources in the state of Massachusetts and provides resources and a databank for understanding municipal revenue. -
Local Government Finances During and After the Great Recession
Land and the City, Chapter 6, 2016by: Adam LangleyThis book chapter highlights the impacts of the 2007-2009 recession on local government spending across the U.S., drawing from the FiSC database. -
Financial Disparities: Tax Base Sharing in the [Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN] Metro Area
2025This web page presents the Twin Cities’ tax-base sharing program, known as the Fiscal Disparities Program, that collects and redistributes a portion of the property tax base to narrow gaps between communities in the metro area and work toward a set of clear goals. -
Local Leaders Must Prepare Now for Potential Federal Budget Impact
March 2025This blog post recommends local governments to perform stress tests as an action of preparation during changing federal funding pathways. -
Franchise Fees: An Important and Sometimes Untapped Source of Local Government Revenue
June 2018by: Jonathan GerthThis blog post introduces the collection of franchise fees from utility companies as a revenue source for localities. -
Trends in Local Government Revenues: The Old, the New, and the Future
Municipal Revenues and Land Policies, Chapter 4, May 2010by: J. BentonThis book chapter analyzes the trends of own-source revenue and intergovernmental revenues by type of local government from 1962 or 1977 to 2002, as an understanding of general funds and the constraints on revenue-generating by state legislature. -
The Past and Future of the Urban Property Tax
Land and the City, Chapter 5, 2016by: Grant Driessen, Steven SheffrinThis book chapter examines the role property tax has played and could potentially play in cities by analyzing four types of property tax limitations and determining that revenue share is more related to non-property tax revenue and to tax rate and local limitations than changes in land price. -
User Fee Study: Town of Paradise Valley, AZ
2022This case study addresses finding the “reasonable cost”, primarily based on Fully Burdened Hourly Rates (FBHR), for a local government when the increase necessary for full cost recovery in fees is not feasible, especially in a single year. -
Progressive Policies for Raising Municipal Revenue
April 2015by: Shawn Sebastian, Karl KumodziThis report highlights the fact that many financial structures are regressive in nature, and municipalities and their revenue structure are no different, and points to methods that would increase equity. -
Federal Grants to State and Local Governments: Trends and Issues
June 2025by: Adam Levine, AICPThis report presents data on the distribution of federal grants to state and local governments by their primary use and by state. The primary uses of intergovernmental transfers are health, income security, education, transportation, and community and regional development, as well as social services, job training, and environmental protection. -
Tax-Exempt Bonds: A Description of State and Local Government Debt
February 2018by: Grant DriessenThis report explains the economical use of debt instruments of the state and local governments being exempted from interest income earned on federal bonds from federal income tax. -
In the Shadow of State Government: Revenue Diversification and Changes in Municipal Spending After Two Recessions
Government Finance Research Center, May 2019by: Rebecca HendrickThis report identifies the importance of revenue diversification in effect of the size of local government, state constraints on taxation, and regional resources from 1997 to 2012. -
How Should Governments Use Revenue from Corrective Taxes?
January 2016by: Adele Morris, Donald MarronThis report encourages the use of the revenue from corrective taxes to go towards a public benefit related to the issue the tax addresses, as support for the tax often increases. -
Revenue Guide for Washington Cities and Towns
November 2024This guide outlines in-depth how to evaluate existing and potential revenue sources through key considerations, voted and non-voted, by understanding the fiscal health of a municipality and its limits and desires. -
A County Manager’s Guide to Shared Services in Local Government
Collaborating Across Boundaries, 2013by: Eric Zeemering, Daryl DelabbioThis guide outlines the benefits of creating interlocal agreements between local governments to provide increased levels and quality of service to their citizens while also maintaining or alleviating budget stress. -
User Fee Programs: Design Choices and Processes
October 2023by: Erika LietzanThis briefing paper explains user fee programs, their history, appropriations, design, and recommendations at the federal level that can be applied to local user fees. -
How do state and local revenues from charges work?
January 2024This briefing paper demonstrates how state and local revenues’ reliance on charges have grown over time to almost as much as property taxes and more than general sales. -
Building Better Budgets
May 2013This report supports the implementation of smart growth development practices to save local government money in the short- and long-term. -
A Regional Playbook for Managing Data Center Impacts in the Great Lakes
March 2026by: Alliance for the Great LakesThis guide is intended for residents, community organizations, and local leaders to better understand data centers and their impacts. -
Chester County and Montgomery County, PA Planning Commissions Data Center Ordinance Guide
April 2026This guide presents and explains specific zoning language around data centers for municipalities to integrate into their zoning codes. -
Data Centers: A Guide to Common Questions
April 2026by: James Ladlee, Daniel Brockett, Dana OllendykeThis guide provides a list of questions for communities to consider about data center developments. -
Data Center Myth-Busting Reference Guide
June 2026by: Kansas Department of CommerceThis guide discusses common misconceptions regarding data centers and responds with evidence-backed explanations. -
Georgia Data Center Ordinance Hub
June 2026by: Yang YouThis guide compiles land use ordinances related to data centers and includes a dashboard of commonly addressed topics. -
Commentary: After the Servers Go Dark
Daily Yonder, May 2026by: Jim HamiltonThis article discusses data center developments and how planners should consider what happens when these facilities close. -
How to De-Escalate Public Meetings: A Practical, Step-by-Step Guide for Cities
November 2025by: Nick VlahosThis guide outlines eight steps to rebuild trust and communication in public meetings. Research suggests that the design of the public meeting process, not the people, may be the problem.