As early as Jan. 31, 2008, U.S. citizens will be required to present a passport or other approved document to enter the U.S. at all ports of entry. The Dept. of State is developing a ¿passport card¿ as a means of establishing U.S. citizenship for individuals crossing U.S. land borders or arriving by sea from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Bermuda. State proposes to charge $45 for the card, which would include a $25 execution fee. Acceptance facilities, including State¿s passport offices, as well as post offices & state courts, execute passport applications on state¿s behalf, & retain this fee. This report examines: (1) the factors State considered when setting the proposed fee; & (2) how execution cost data were developed. Charts & tables.

State Department: Transparent Cost Estimates Needed to Support Passport Execution Fee Decisions

Traditionally, economics training in public finances has focused more on tax than public expenditure issues, and within expenditure, more on policy considerations than the more mundane matters of public expenditure management. For many years, the IMF's Public Expenditure Management Division has answered specific questions raised by fiscal economists on such missions. Based on this experience, these guidelines arose from the need to provide a general overview of the principles and practices observed in three key aspects of public expenditure management: budget preparation, budget execution, and cash planning. For each aspect of public expenditure management, the guidelines identify separately the differing practices in four groups of countries - the francophone systems, the Commonwealth systems, Latin America, and those in the transition economies. Edited by Barry H. Potter and Jack Diamond, this publication is intended for a general fiscal, or a general budget, advisor interested in the macroeconomic dimension of public expenditure management.

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