RubinBrown Public Sector Stats 2017

STATE OF TENNESSEE

52,000 AVERAGE POPULATION

8.5% MEDIAN CHANGE IN NET POSITION

33 NUMBER OF

MUNICIPALITIES

Unrestricted General Fund Balance as % of Expenditures (median – all cities)

As this is the second year that Tennessee municipalities are included in the survey, trend information is not available over a five-year history, so our analysis is more limited. However, most of the financial ratios show many cities have very healthy financial positions and have experienced positive results of operations. For instance, the median change in net position increased from 8.1% in 2015 to 8.5% in 2016. This is much higher than the results in the other regions surveyed. The liquidity ratio rose to 0.96 as compared to 0.92 in 2015. This is below 1.0, which means many governments in Tennessee might find it difficult to continue to pay off current liabilities as they become due. The survey also shows that the median general fund level of unrestricted fund balance as a percent of expenditures rose significantly from 37.2% in 2015 to 49.4% in 2016. This is above average, and exceeds the GFOA recommendation of 20%. The 2016 ratio reflects an unrestricted fund balance equivalent to nearly six months of expenditures.

37.2%

2015

2016

49.4%

30% 40% 50%

Median Dollars Per Capita

$1,221

$1,250

$1,134

Tax Revenue Expenses Total Debt

$1,000

$829

$801

$750

$720

$722

$500

$250

2015

2016

RubinBrown Public Sector Stats 2017

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