City Managers, Public Avoidance, and Revenue Sharing

The objective of this research was to investigate two questions: how influential are city managers in the revenue sharing process, and are managers' values and attitudes obstacles to citizen participation in local decisions about spending shared revenues. Findings suggest that manager preferences for spending are very significant predictors of actual allocations. Additionally, managers avoided holding public hearings. This avoidance seemed to be influenced by their notions of community consensus and solidarity. In those few cities where hearings were held, however, it seemed that city managers were able to still exercise considerable discretion in allocating revenue sharing funds.