Western Gas - Competitors

Western Gas Competition

Now Viewing Western Gas's competition in: Municipal Governments (primary)

Recent Developments

Splitting Bond Insurance Companies may Lower Borrowing Costs - US government regulators and bankers, concerned about the viability of bond insurers, have proposed splitting the insurers into two parts to restore confidence in financial markets. One part would be for safe municipal debt, the other for riskier mortgage-related securities. Experts say that municipalities are likely to benefit from the division because the cost of funding projects with municipal bonds won't be driven up by problems in the US home mortgage industry.

Proposal Gives Voters Veto Power Over Spending - A proposal by a state panel could give Florida voters veto power over spending and taxation by local governments. The proposal would cap tax collections and spending by cities, counties, schools, and special taxing districts, and only voters could give permission to break the caps. Many experts, who note that the proposal is modeled after Colorado's 1992 voter-approved Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, say that its effect could be far-reaching if copied by other states.

County Considers Bankruptcy - Jefferson County, Alabama, is considering filing bankruptcy to resolve a financial crisis surrounding $3.2 billion of sewer debt. County officials say that the county couldn't meet a deadline to post a $184 million collateral payment, and wouldn't give assurances that the sewer system had enough revenue to cover costs related to its variable rate debt. Many experts say that a bankruptcy declaration could result in the largest-ever US municipal default.

Competitive Landscape

The demand for municipal services is driven by population growth and demographics of the local population. Because municipalities must operate with a balanced budget, loss of revenue results in loss of services, usually through job cuts. Municipal government is highly labor-intensive: average annual revenue per employee is about $80,000.

Full Industry Overview For Municipal Governments

Municipal Governments Industry Forecast

from Hoover's/D&B subsidiary First Research

Consumption spending and gross investment by state and local governments in the US are forecast to grow at an annual compounded rate of 4.4 percent between 2007 and 2012.

State and Local Government Spending Growth Flat

First Research forecasts are based on INFORUM forecasts that are licensed from the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. (IERF) in College Park, MD. INFORUM's "interindustry-macro" approach to modeling the economy captures the links between industries and the aggregate economy.