RubinBrown Public Sector Stats 2012

Executive Summary

spent on public safety as favorable, whereas our analysis places this in a less favorable quartile. In addition, per capita ratios may be adversely affected if your city serves a large non-resident population due to a significant daily influx of workers. Use of the Study Finance officers may use the study to determine how their cities compare to others of similar size and geographic area in key financial ratio measurements. Both quartile and average ratio values are provided for comparison. The finance officer may wish to share the results of the analysis with the municipality’s chief executive officer and governing body to help key officials understand the impact of decisions on the financial condition of municipality.

Analysis The results of this year’s survey seem to indicate that 2011 was a year of moderate economic recovery. After several years of decreases in tax and grant revenues, these amounts increased slightly as the economy began to rebound. This has resulted in an improvement in net asset growth for municipal governments. Fund balance of the general fund is generally a focal point of a city’s financial health, at least from a short- term perspective. The unrestricted fund balance includes assigned and unassigned fund balance categories as defined in GASB Statement No. 54. Surprisingly, the fund balance as a percent of total revenues in the general fund has remained relatively stable since 2007, in spite of the economic turmoil that has taken place during that timeframe. This indicates a level of disciplined financial management practices put into place to offset the effects of declining revenues. In the analysis that follows, the results for each area are examined, with an emphasis placed on the impact of current economic conditions upon each region.

Average Change in Net Assets (All Regions)

15%

7.9%

10%

5.8%

5.2%

4.6%

5%

1.6%

0%

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Unrestricted General Fund Balance as a Percent of Revenues

70%

58.1%

60%

50.5% 51.7%

50.0%

50%

44.1%

40%

36.2%

35.4% 34.8%

39.5%

32.2%

30%

33.0%

30.9%

20%

10%

0%

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

St. Louis

Kansas City

Colorado

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