The Future of Property Tax Collections? With Adam J. Cohen

The Future of Property Tax Collections? With Adam J. Cohen

In this week's episode we discuss the means and tools available to municipalities to collect property taxes owed and the case of Pung v. Isabella County with our guest Adam J. Cohen, chair of the Municipal Law and Community Associations section at Pullman & Comley. Oral arguments were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2026, but a decision has yet to be handed down. The outcome is expected to have significant implications for property tax foreclosure law nationwide.

Local Government Trust and Auditing with Mark Funkhouser

Mark Funkhouser spent decades in government service, first as a municipal auditor, then as Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri and he discusses how the role of local governments has changed and who they really serve. Now leading Funkhouser & Associates, he brings that experience to bear on local government accountability, the rise of private equity in essential services, and what monopoly control means for the communities that have no choice but to pay up.

From Federal to Local: Reimagining Public Sector Careers with Caitlin Lewis

This week, we sit down with Caitlin Lewis, Founding Executive Director of Work for America, to explore the shifting landscape of public sector employment. We discuss how her organization is helping workers navigate the transition from federal to local government amid ongoing federal restructuring, what it takes to fix a hiring process that too often drives talented people away, and why working in government deserves a serious rebrand. Caitlin also shares her thinking on how to inspire the next generation to see public service as a meaningful and exciting career path.

Investing in the Water distribution infrastructure with Adam Carpenter and Rachel Gonsenhauser

In this week's episode, we sit down with Adam Carpenter, Manager of Energy and Environmental Policy, and Rachel Gonsenhauser, Regulatory Technical Manager of Government Affairs at the American Water Works Association, to explore the state of water distribution systems across the United States. They discuss the scale of investment needed to modernise ageing infrastructure and what that means for consumers and their water bills.

How Boston Is Financing Its Climate Future with Chris Osgood and Ian Donnelly

This week, we sit down with Chris Osgood, Director of Boston's Office of Climate Resilience and Senior Advisor for Infrastructure to Mayor Michelle Wu, and Ian Donnelly, Deputy Budget Director and Director of Capital Planning for the City of Boston. We explore how Boston is embedding climate resilience into its capital planning process and the tough tradeoffs between near-term fiscal pressures and long-term resilience investments. We also discuss what other cities can learn from Boston's approach to making climate-conscious infrastructure spending a core part of public finance.