With the rapid development of economic globalization, the central role of cities, especially large and medium-sized cities, is increasingly strengthened. Some experts believe that in the future open trading system, the worldwide competition will be launched between cities rather than between countries. However, infrastructure construction, as the main factor that determines and affects the competitiveness of cities, has long troubled the decision makers of cities. How to raise funds for the future development of the city from a strategic perspective? How to use limited funds to carry out infrastructure construction efficiently?
how to establish a self-rolling development model of urban infrastructure construction? The reporter wrote an article introducing the successful experiences and practices of some countries in these areas, and published it in two issues, hoping to inspire readers.
USA: gradually improve the investment mechanism
American governments at all levels attach great importance to urban infrastructure investment, and their respective practices are similar. The investment focuses on projects to improve the social and economic development environment, and its investment sources are mainly composed of the federal government's public expenditure, the local government's public budget, and the municipal bond financing under the credit guarantee of local governments.
the United States implements federal, state and county financial management.
the delineation of government affairs and financial rights at all levels is based on the principle of income range and efficiency. The federal government is mainly responsible for public welfare urban infrastructure projects involving the overall situation of the country or requiring huge investment, and accordingly provides grants, loans and tax subsidies to local governments. For example, the infrastructure construction cross-linked with national roads is invested by the federal finance, and local finance can provide a certain proportion of matching funds. Most of the financial support of the federal government is conditional and cannot be used for other purposes. The purpose is to coordinate and guide local government investment.
there are two ways to allocate funds: one is "block allocation", that is, the federal government allocates a sum of money for a specific project, and the amount of allocation has nothing to do with the amount of local government investment in the project. The second is "proportional allocation", that is, the proportion of capital contribution is determined according to the investment quota of local governments. It is generally believed that the latter can stimulate local governments to increase investment in infrastructure more than the former, while the former can easily lead local governments to divert funds originally used for the project for other purposes.
although the U.S. federal government absolutely invests a lot in local urban infrastructure, on the whole, the investment ratio is not high. According to statistics, it was about 2% in the early 195s, climbed to 4% in 1977, and dropped to about 25% in the 199s. According to the investigation, when the federal government investment reaches its peak, it is often when the national public infrastructure or large-scale backbone infrastructure construction investment is frequent.
state-level governments in the United States, especially local governments below the state level, are the protagonists of urban infrastructure investment. Its sources of funds include taxes, income of infrastructure enterprises, municipal bonds, sponsorship donations, etc. But the financial resources of local governments are also limited. To this end, the United States has established an effective infrastructure investment and financing mechanism. Almost all local governments and local government agencies have raised a large number of low-cost social funds by organizing the issuance of municipal bonds, which not only plays an important role in promoting the development of urban infrastructure construction in the United States, but also solves the problem of intergenerational fair burden of urban infrastructure investment.
Take the construction of a 5-year-old urban infrastructure as an example. If we only rely on short-term taxes, all the investment burden will fall on taxpayers during this period, and issuing municipal bonds can solve this problem well.
municipal bonds are guaranteed by government credit, and are issued by local governments at state, city, county and town levels and their agencies or authorized agencies. There are many kinds of municipal bonds, which are mainly divided into "ordinary obligation bonds" and "income bonds". The former is guaranteed by the local government's tax power, additional taxes, permitted fees and special fees, and its credit is very safe. The latter is a bond issued by an agency authorized by a local government to raise funds for specific infrastructure, and it is guaranteed by the paid use income of related facilities, instead of being paid by the general local government tax guarantee. It is mainly used for urban construction and the development of public utilities, such as airport bonds, comprehensive sports competitions and conference center bonds, and toll road bonds.
the yield of yield bonds is higher, but the risk is higher than that of ordinary bonds. Since the 197s, the total issuance of income bonds in the United States has exceeded that of general obligation bonds.
municipal bonds are issued in two ways: public offering and private placement. Generally, liability bonds are underwritten by competition, while income bonds are usually underwritten by agreement. The tax-free feature is the most attractive place of municipal bonds. According to the American Tax Reform Act of 1986, the interest income of bonds used for public purposes such as highway construction and sewage treatment is exempt from federal income tax. Although bonds used for private purposes such as shopping centers and gymnasiums are subject to federal income tax, they are exempt from local income tax.
The investors of municipal bonds are not only banks, various funds and insurance companies, but also individual investors. At the end of 23, the amount of municipal bonds issued in the United States was $385 billion, with a stock of about $2.4 trillion, accounting for about 13% of the total size of the US bond market, most of which were tax-free bonds for public purposes. Affected by the adjustment of fiscal and taxation policies and market risks, the proportion of American commercial banks investing in municipal bonds has been declining, and individual investors have become investors in municipal bonds at present. Municipal bonds have been listed as the four major capital markets in the United States along with the stock market, national debt market and corporate bond market.
American municipal bonds have gone through a tortuous road from establishment to maturity. Before the 197s, in the United States, the issuance of municipal bonds did not need to be registered in accordance with the requirements of the securities law, nor was it bound by the regulation of periodic reports. With the increasing purchase of municipal bonds by individuals and the frequent occurrence of irregular behaviors, the United States Congress passed the Securities Act Amendment of 1975, and established the Municipal Bond Legislation Committee (MSRB) accordingly.
This committee is an independent self-regulatory body, composed of 15 representatives from commercial banks, investment banks and the public. Its duty is to propose a supervision plan for the municipal bond market and regulate the behaviors of brokerage banks, brokers and dealers. However, this amendment still has no clear requirements on the registration of bond issuance and periodic reports. It was not until 1989 that municipal bond disclosure regulations stipulated that municipal bond issuers and users should disclose and update relevant information in a timely and regular manner. The "anti-fraud clause" in the federal securities law has a strong binding force on the issuance and sale of municipal bonds, and any fraud or deception will be investigated and even investigated for civil and criminal responsibility.