In 2007, CGR conducted a landmark comparison of local governments on Long Island with a comparable area in northern Virginia. Local government services, including schools, cost 44% less in NVA, although the level of services and citizen satisfaction with those services appear comparable. A detailed comparison of school districts and fire departments showed that NVA manages those services on a countywide/regional basis, whereas Long Island's 127 school districts and 179 fire departments create a fragmented management structure that restricts cost effective use of resources and thus is significant contributing factor to high costs and high taxes for government in New York.

First published in 1992, Local Government Economics in Theory and Practice is an effort to rectify the lack of a comparative analysis between democratic local governments of various countries and their methods of financing. A series of chapters examines the theoretical basis for different systems of local government finance and how these systems work out in practice. The book covers various aspects of reforms in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and includes a discussion of the rationale for the community charge. This collection of essays will be of importance to students of economics and public policy.