Spring 2008 issue of Horizons

INDUSTRy u

PUBLIC SECTOR

Rubin Brown Public Sector Group Issues First Benchmarking Survey In October 2007, RubinBrown’s 2006 Financial Ratio Study for Municipalities was released. As auditors for many municipal governments, it was always frustrating not to have benchmarking information available to help government officials see how they were doing as compared to their peers. We often heard from our clients that they would like to see how they matched up against similar governments. The study included statistical financial results for municipalities in both the St. Louis and Kansas City metropolitan areas, focusing on cities with populations greater than 5,000. For purposes of this study, metropolitan St. Louis included municipalities in both Missouri and Illinois; metropolitan Kansas City included municipalities in both Kansas and Missouri. Methodology RubinBrown teammembers contacted the finance officers from the selected municipalities, requesting financial information for the ratio calculations. Financial information was then collected from the 2006 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report or 2006 Audited Financial Statement if no CAFR was prepared. All municipalities included in the study prepare financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Key financial ratios were calculated in three categories: government- wide (governmental activities only), governmental funds and general fund information.

33 u spring 2008 issue