Government and Public Policy
Critical Insights for Sound Public Policy
Governments are confronted with difficult choices regarding how they raise and allocate resources for designing and implementing programs in ways that provide opportunities and improve the quality of life of their citizens. ESI’s government and public policy practice combines rigorous analytical capabilities with depth of experience to help clients evaluate and shape effective public policies, as well as benchmark and recommend sound governance practices.
The Latest Insights
Fiscal Planning and Tax Policy
Sound fiscal policy is critical for any jurisdiction to generate growth while providing needed services. Modeling of revenue and expenditure options, including direct and indirect impacts from current and potential tax policies provide intelligence to help jurisdictions chart a secure and equitable fiscal course.
Business District Comparative Analysis
Econsult Solutions’ 2022 analysis of how Upper Merion Township/King of Prussia, Pennsylvania compares as a business location relative to other nearby suburban jurisdictions presents relative tax burden and other locational characteristics, enabling both a comparison across jurisdictions, as well as a comparison across time. The 2022 analysis is an update to research conducted by ESI in 2017 and 2011 for King of Prussia District.
Environmental Social Governance Municipal Bond Market Impact
Over the past few years companies and institutions, such as investment banks, have enacted policies referred to as Environmental Social Governance (ESG) policies. ESI was commissioned by the Sunrise Project to calculate how potential legislation could impact taxpayers.
Strategic Management Planning Program Five-Year Financial Plan
ESI, McNees Wallace and Nurick LLC, and SRW Strategies worked with officials of Newtown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania to assess its financial condition and develop a file-year plan.
Economic and Financial Recovery Strategies
The pandemic has changed the landscape of industries, commercial corridors, and communities across the country. ESI combines carefully monitoring of the latest insights with proven experience in economic development to help jurisdictions and business districts think through the smartest ways to rebuild activity.
Strategy for Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery
Econsult Solutions utilized public and private data sets to assess the pre-pandemic and current economic conditions of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This analysis provided an important baseline to determine future recovery strategies.
Office Building Adaptive Reuse Study
Econsult Solutions worked with New York Economic Development Corporation in supporting the New York City Department of City Planning and its Office Adaptive Reuse Task Force which was convened to examine the regulations for office building conversions along with possible incentives for developing housing in high-density commercial districts in New York City, New York.
Economic Recovery and Resilience Study
Long having been a vacation destination and second home community, the assets of Cape May County, New Jersey attracted an unanticipated year-round population during the COVID-19 pandemic. Econsult Solutions worked with county officials and stakeholders to develop strategies and recommendations for sustainable economic growth.
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Economic Insecurity
Policy choices about benefit, taxation, and savings programs impact the ability of vulnerable citizens to meet their needs, as well as labor markets and economic growth. ESI’s rigorous analyses can help to define the importance of issues and inform successful policy formation.
Constraints on New Hampshire's Workforce Recovery
ESI and the National Center for Children in Poverty were commissioned by the New Hampshire Department of Employment Security to study the impact of employment constraints faced by the state’s households including benefit cliffs, child care, and labor supply as the state seeks accelerate its recovery from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Spillover Impacts of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Development
The Journal of Housing Economics published Econsult Solutions Principal Richard Voith’s article "Effects of concentrated LIHTC development on surrounding housing prices," a research report examining the property value impacts of affordable housing developments financed by Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).
Federal and State Impacts of Insufficient Retirement Savings
As the elderly population of the United States continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important that households plan appropriately to maintain their living standards in their retirement years. ESI’s study, The Cost of Doing Nothing, for Pew Charitable Trusts, explores the potential economic and fiscal costs to existing trends in retirement savings.
Policy Research
ESI conducts high quality research support for foundations, academic institutions, advocacy groups and industry collectives, and other organizations seeking to inform policymakers through evidence-based research and insights.
Fiscal Future Research
Econsult Solutions, Inc. (ESI) was retained by The Pew Charitable Trusts to provide research and analysis in support of a series of Pew publications on scenarios for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s economic and fiscal future following the-COVID-19 pandemic.
Financing Green Infrastructure
ESI developed a guide for decision makers in small to mid-sized communities for how to finance green infrastructure. The report, Financing Green Infrastructure: Lessons Learned from the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, includes evaluation of impacts to demonstrate the benefits imparted to communities from green infrastructure.
The State of Broadband in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the critical necessity of internet connectivity for everyday life, as it has become vital for work, education, essential services, and economic competitiveness. The pandemic also highlighted the digital divide that exists across the United States. For the American Association of Retired Persons, ESI conducted a high-level review of the current state of broadband policy and funding opportunities in the U.S.
Urban Planning and Strategy
Through ESI Center for the Future of Cities and our policy consulting practice, ESI brings together experts in urban economics, policy, and strategy to develop evidence-based research and strategies on important issues facing cities and regions as they plan for the future.
Smart-Connected City Planning
In developing The Connected Newark plan for the City of Newark, New Jersey, ESI set a framework for integration of smart city technologies to further interconnect local government with residents. This plan serves as a basis for policy and public investments in economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
Land Bank Program Analysis
The existence of vacancy and blight in the City of Wilmington, Delaware is a pervasive problem, imposing significant negative implications for the city’s economy, fiscal position, and quality of life. To clarify the city’s strategy to alleviate vacancy, ESI produced a cost-benefit analysis making the financial case for a land bank in Wilmington.
Sustainable Urban Forest Planning
The Philly Tree Plan, a strategy for the growth and care of the urban forest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aims to reduce disparities of tree canopy distribution. ESI evaluated the potential economic, social, and environmental benefits of this plan.
Regional Infrastructure Restoration and Resilience Strategy
ESI’s report, A New Paradigm for the Delaware Canal, completed for Delaware Canal 21, provides sound, evidence-based support for establishing an improvement district to address a critical infrastructure challenge, turning a defunct industrial canal system into an environmental asset for the community with concurrent economic and fiscal benefits.
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In addition to our government and public policy practice, several ESI practice areas focus directly on policy issues of public interest, such as economic development, equity and inclusion, and transportation.
Select Government and Public Policy Clients
You Have a Case to Make
Let us help you find a solution to your most pressing challenges. Our staff and advisory board consists of experienced professionals that provide the highest levels of technical expertise in economics, analytics, and thought leadership.
Econsult Solutions’ Government and Public Policy Team Includes:
- Public policy strategists with experience in government agencies, academia, and the private sector;
- Seasoned economists with expertise in data analysis and research teams with a focus on economic insecurity, workforce evaluation, fiscal and budgetary policy;
- City planners with expertise in urban revitalization, sustainable infrastructure projects; and the relationship between policy and land use;
- Economic development and urban resilience experts, with extensive expertise in community finance as well as facilitation of strategic plan development.
