Michael Belsky AM 1983

A Passion for Public Finance

In December, the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) appointed Michael Belsky, AM’83 to its board of directors. “The GASB is a real honor, like being on the Supreme Court for setting accounting standards for government,” he explained.

The GASB is an independent organization that has established generally accepted accounting principals for state and local U.S. governments. While no federal laws require government agencies to follow GASB standards, they are generally considered to be best practice and even enforced by some individual states.

Although part time, the GASB opportunity was too good to turn down, so Belsky will leave his full-time position at Fitch Ratings in March to avoid a conflict of interest. He has worked at Fitch Ratings, one of the three major credit agencies in the United States, since 1993 in a variety of roles. For the last six years, Belsky, now a group managing director, has focused on public finance. He started with overseeing the public finance ratings group. With close to 100 analysts around the country, the group rates the ability of state and local government agencies to pay back debt on time. And for the last year, he has headed all business development and investor relations in the public finance sector.

As one of five GASB board members, Belsky brings the perspective of a frequent user of accounting standards, such as an employee of municipal bond agency or a legislator who reviews budgets and other financial statements. He fits the bill well due to his experience at Fitch and, since 2003, his role as mayor of Highland Park, Illinois. “I would say my work as mayor is interconnected to my work in finance, and GASB is an extension of that, too.”

Highland Park has a city manager–style government, so Belsky’s mayoral responsibilities range from chairing city council meetings to ensuring the city manager and staff carry out basic city services to finding solutions for community problems.

Belsky’s approaches to affordable housing and environmental sustainability have won him numerous accolades. “The federal government has had their head in the sand, so mayors and some governors have taken hold of this issue,” he said of reducing carbon emissions, which he believes is one growing area in need of young policy graduates.

He also feels public policy degrees are needed more than ever in these difficult economic times. Many revenue sources governments rely on, such as sales and real estate taxes, are sensitive to the economy. “This is where the expertise and professionalism [that policy students] get is important,” he said. “Because cities that are creative, well managed, have budgets with cushions, and are smart about what they can contract out, those are the cities that will survive this best.”

Despite his demanding schedule, Belsky is passionate about the many roles he plays.

“At the end of the day, you have to like helping people if you’re in any sort of aspect of state [or] local government,” he said. “I enjoying helping people and I like the interplay of what I do in the public finance industry and what I do as mayor.”