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Advocates of new federal accounting standards for state and local governments believe that trying to place a dollar value on everything from highways to government land and buildings will enable governments to make informed decisions on issues such as privatization.
Others are calling the standards an unnecessary intrusion into state and local autonomy, a waste of time and money, and practically useless as far as information is concerned. "We're just adding another layer to an already large reporting document," Kathy Smith-Roy, president of Michigan Municipal Finance Officers Association, told the Associated Press.
State and local officials are expected to comply with the new standards nevertheless, even though they are not binding, because failure to do so could drive up borrowing costs: Agencies that give credit ratings would notice and give a bad rating. For the state of Michigan, the cost of pricing alone for a host of 12,000 items, including the State Capitol and the Mackinac Bridge, will come to $3 million.
