Campus News Society & Culture

UGA offers new online budget and revenue administration courses for local governments

Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia Carl Vinson Institute of Government, in cooperation with the Georgia Center for Continuing Education, has expanded its portfolio of governmental finance courses. The two new career development courses are introductory budget and revenue administration. Both are self-paced, online courses developed by the Vinson Institute.

“We are pleased to expand our online course offerings, especially in a time when the subjects of budgeting and revenue are challenging,” said Tracy Arner, program manager of the Vinson Institute’s Financial Management Training Program. “Our goal is to make these courses accessible to those serving in government finance areas both locally and nationally.”

Topics in the introductory budget course include types of budgets and their components, the budgeting process, departmental requests, forecasting and estimating revenues, establishing budgetary controls and contingency budgets.

The revenue administration course covers revenue policy, the property tax cycle, calculating millage rate and applying it to a tax digest, property tax collection, licenses, permits, regulatory fees, impact fees, fee-pricing methodologies, finding the best revenue sources for new services and more.

The online courses are available not only in Georgia but nationwide.

“Almost 500 people registered for the government finance courses last year, and this year, we’re seeing a 20 percent increase in registration,” said Pam Bracken, department head of special projects and curriculum development at the Georgia Center.

To learn more about any course in UGA’s governmental training portfolio, see http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/ppd/govfinance.

UGA Center for Continuing Education
A unit of the University of Georgia Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach, the Georgia Center for Continuing Education provides innovative lifelong learning opportunities through its continuing education programs, and meets the training and professional development needs of individuals, businesses and organizations in Georgia and beyond.