RubinBrown Public Sector Municipal Stats 2018

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

RubinBrown has an extensive public sector practice and is a leader in providing accounting and auditing services to state and local governments with offices in Chicago, Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville and St. Louis. As a service to the local governments in the communities we serve, we have developed the Public Sector Municipal Stats. The study includes results for municipalities in the St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver Front Range metropolitan areas as well as cities throughout the state of Tennessee. All cities included in the data have populations greater than 5,000. Additionally, the cities of St. Louis, Kansas City, Nashville, Memphis and Denver are excluded from the study due to their size relative to the other municipalities. Finally, for purposes of this study, metropolitan St. Louis includes municipalities in both Missouri and Illinois, metropolitan Kansas City includes municipalities in both Kansas and Missouri, Denver consists of municipalities primarily in the Front Range region and Tennessee municipalities are throughout the state but with a focus on cities in middle Tennessee. Methodology Financial information is from the 2017 fiscal or calendar year Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) or from audited financial statements if no CAFR was prepared. All municipalities included in the study prepare financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A total of 18 financial ratios were calculated in three categories: government-wide (governmental activities only), governmental funds and general fund information. Each participant in the survey received customized financial statistics to benchmark against other cities and use as an analysis tool. This year, 41 St. Louis municipalities, 24 Kansas City municipalities, 32 Denver Front Range municipalities and 33 Tennessee municipalities participated. The average population of the cities included in the St. Louis region was 22,000, compared to the average population of 48,000 for surveyed cities in the Kansas City region, 83,000 in the Denver region and 53,000 for Tennessee. The average population for all cities in each region experienced an increase except for the St. Louis region, which remained the same. Format of the Report The ratios are presented separately for the St. Louis, Kansas City, Denver and Tennessee regions. Each ratio was sorted from most favorable to less favorable and presented by quartile to be used to rate individual cities relative to others in their region. Presented also is three-year trend information to show prior results and associated increases or decreases. For a description and interpretation of the ratios, please refer to the Financial Ratio Interpretations section on page 14. The conclusions of whether results are more or less favorable are based upon what is most commonly accepted in the industry. Each statistic may be viewed differently or may be more or less meaningful based upon the situation of each city. For example, a small city may view a large amount of funding being spent on public safety as favorable, whereas our analysis places this in a less favorable quartile.

In addition, per capita ratios may be affected adversely if a city serves a large non- resident population due to a significant daily influx of workers.

Executive Summary

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