Course Syllabus

 

Click on following link for Syllabus Word Document:

Syllabus Fall 2019 ACC 207 91.docx

 

QUINCY COLLEGE COURSE SYLLABUS - Fall, 2019
MUNICIPAL ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE ACC 207 91		Wednesday Evening 6 PM - 9 PM
Instructor	Jack Zarkauskas		Phone:	N/A
Office	N/A		Email:	Jack.Zarkauskas@fac.quincycollege.edu
Mailbox	PP 307		Quincy College Policy see Student Handbook
Office Hours – Before or after class by appointment

 

REQUIRED TEXTBOOK(s)

No required textbook. There will be assigned readings and research.

 

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course offers the students an analysis of municipal accounting and finance for the various municipalities and regions in Massachusetts.  Emphasis will be placed upon revenue generating, budgeting, state aid to local communities, calculating tax rates and local options. Impact at personal level will also be studied.

 

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the conclusion of this course students should be able to:

1. Describe and explain the nature and functions of municipalities and the way in which revenue is raised and public services are financed.
2. Develop budgets for municipalities, define and calculate tax rates and state aid to municipalities and regional and vocational schools, and compare across communities.

1. Distinguish among the four (4) options available to municipalities when setting tax rates, analyze and discuss the limitations in connection with setting the rates, explain overrides and perform calculations for selected communities.
2. Identify and discuss municipal accounting rules and the related recording and reporting process and prepare financial statements for a municipality. Compare and contrast with for-profit accounting rules.                                                      
3. Identify how general fund expenditures are defined at the local level and perform related calculations for a municipality, identify and explain the meaning and purpose of the many special funds used at the municipal level and list these funds, with an emphasis on the enterprise fund, special revenue funds, trust funds, and capital development funds.
4. Identify and list the features of municipal bonds and how they are sold to the public (investors).
5. Prepare, analyze, and interpret financial statements of municipalities.
6. List other funding source for municipalities – payments in lieu of taxes, grants, partnerships and matching funds, negotiations, forgiveness of debt, sharing of other taxes and municipal internal controls.
7. Calculate state revenues, and list the securities that are transacted in financial markets and identify, list and evaluate Bond Rating Agencies

 

 

 

 

COURSE DELIVERY FORMAT

On Campus

This course meets on campus according to the schedule posted above. The majority of the course content will be delivered through lectures and other activities conducted during class meetings. Online resources may be used to supplement the textbook or provide interaction with the content and/or assessment. The course will also have a portal page which contains the class syllabus, handouts, and important information (particularly in the event of a weather or emergency closing).

 

 

INSTRUCTIONAL METHODOLOGIES

Classes will be conducted using a combination of lectures, problem solving workshops and discussions.  Solutions to problems will be displayed on the writing board with the use of a marker or by distributing sample (template) examples of reports of other municipalities (in-class use only).

 

GRADING POLICY

 

Grade	%	GPA	Grade	%	GPA	Grade	%	GPA
			A	> 93	4.0	A-	90-92	3.7
B+	87-89	3.3	B	83-86	3.0	B-	80-82	2.7
C+	77-79	2.3	C	73-76	2.0	C-	70-72	1.7
D	60-69	1.0	F	< 60	0.0
I	Incomplete	0.0	W	Withdrawal	0.0	AUD	Audit	0.0

 

To successfully complete course objectives, students must:

• Complete all Homework assignments
• Complete all Quizzes
• Complete the Mid-term Exam
• Compete the Final Exam
• Come prepared for in-class discussions, and participate in an appropriate manner.

 

Components and weighting for the Final Grade:

• Homework (3 homework assignments) is worth 15% of the final grade.
• Quizzes (2 quizzes) are worth 20% of the final grade.
• The Mid-term examination is worth 15% of the final grade.
• A Municipal Revenue Report is to be completed by the students worth 10%.
• The Final Exam is worth 20% of the final grade.
• Weekly participation is worth 20% of the final grade (pro-rated based on each week's participation).

 

ATTENDANCE POLICY

Attendance is not be graded; however attendance will affect academic performance. 

It is the responsibility of all students to attend classes in order to achieve a successful level of performance. Please note that participation in this class accounts for 20% of the grade (see above Grading Policy section). Obviously, you need to attend class in order to participate

 

MAKE-UP POLICY

Homework and quizzes will have a make-up period of 5 days (inclusive of weekends and holidays) to submit late work.  However, there is a one-point penalty per day for late work submission.  If the work is not received by 4:00pm on the 5^th calendar day, a grade of zero will be awarded.  No homework or quiz will be accepted after the 5^th day.

 

Participation cannot be made up; no participation credit will be awarded for a missed class.  If a class is missed, the class discussions and activities cannot be made up.

 

The Mid-Term Exam can be made up with a 10% penalty if not taken during the regularly scheduled exam time.  It is the student’s responsibility to make arrangements with the instructor for a make-up exam.  The exam must be taken within one week of the original exam date, or a grade of zero will be entered.

 

No work will be accepted after the last day of class.  The Final Exam must be taken as scheduled, otherwise a grade of zero will be entered.  No make-up for the Final Exam is allowed.

 

Any make-up assignment that is emailed or posted to the Portal during class, without the permission of the instructor, will receive an automatic grade of zero.

 

Any assignment deemed to be plagiarized will receive a grade of zero.  An academic violation report will be submitted to the college.

 

CLASS CANCELLATION POLICY

If, due to instructor illness or other emergency, a class is cancelled, a note will be placed outside the classroom before the start of the session, a message will be posted to the Portal, and an email will be sent to all students via their Quincy College email system.  Please understand that all notifications may not be delivered in a timely manner due to extenuating circumstances.  Please review the TV monitors to view any cancellations. Quincy College has also added a Twitter feed for class cancellations: https://twitter.com/QCcancels

 

COMMUNICATION WITH INSTRUCTOR

The best means of communication is by email. Use your college-issued email.  If you do not have a working Quincy College email account, please contact Information Technology at: support.quincycollege.edu.

 

STUDENT ID CARDS

Students are required to carry a Quincy College ID card on their person at all times. Professors are authorized to request that a student leave the classroom if that student is unable to present a student ID.

 

COURSE CONTENT

Course content may be modified by the instructor.

 

Class	Date	Topic	Assignment
1	9/4	State Revenue - Define various types of government and taxation.	Interactive Discussion & Questions.
2	9/11	Municipal Revenue - Discuss Internet findings of town sites and resident reactions. Prop 2 1/2.	Interactive Discussion & Questions. UMAS, 1, 3, 4, 5. Tax Rate implementation. HW # 1 assigned
3	9/18	Municipal Budgets - Review budget process - sequence and players.	Interactive Discussion & Questions. UMAS 6, 7. Assessment impact.
4	9/25	Quiz # 1. Financial Statements - General Ledger  logic, consistency, impact of errors.	Interactive Discussion & Questions. UMAS 8.
Class	Date	Topic	Assignment
5	10/2	Discuss, compare contents of town annual reports.	Interactive Discussion & Questions. Differences among towns.
6	10/9	State Aid for Education - Discuss major program of state aid for schools.	Interactive Discussion & Questions. Review DLS data for towns. HW # 2 assigned.
7	10/16	State Aid for Education (continued) Discuss major program of state aid for schools and calculations.	Interactive Discussion & Questions. Review DLS data for towns.
8	10/23	Review "Learned to Date" - Q & A of topics to date	Interactive Discussion & Questions & Problems.
9	10/30	Mid-Term. Education Expenditures (DLS) vs. Education Cost.  "Foundation Budget". Formula spreadsheet for state aid	Interactive Discussion & Questions & Problems. HW # 3 assigned.
10	11/6	Mixed Cost - General Fund assessment of fixed and variable costs.	Interactive Discussion & Questions
11	11/13	Proposition 2 1/2 - Challenges to town administration.	Interactive Discussion & Questions
12	11/20	Quiz # 2. Taxation - Practice and limitations.	Interactive Discussion & Questions
	11/27	.Thanksgiving Recess	Thanksgiving Recess
14	12/4	Semester Review
15	12/11	Final

 

 

This syllabus is subject to change as needed…