Funding homeland security programs at the state level: a multiple policy analysis

Abstract

The issue of future funding at the state level for prevention, mitigation, and response programs is on the horizon in the emerging discipline of homeland security studies. This thesis answers the question, how can states sustain the funding of homeland security programs? Therefore, this paper examines two voluntary, non-legislative policy options for capacity, fairness/transparency, and public and political threshold of payment in lieu of taxes programs applied to large, community benefit nonprofits. These two variations are based on the premise that large property holding, property tax exempt organizations are disproportionately advantaged under current law and that they consume municipal services for which they do not pay. This policy option analysis reveals that PILOT programs are a viable option for sustainment funding of homeland security programs at the state and/or local level. While these options are not conclusively appropriate for all jurisdictions, they do merit further examination in areas that are highly dependent on property tax to finance the operations of public safety services. The final recommendation of this thesis is that while these programs may not work at the state level, they may provide the necessary funding to sustain homeland security programs when applied at the local level.