Spring 2008 issue of Horizons

INDUSTRy u

PUBLIC SECTOR

Public Sector Group Issues First Benchmarking Survey (cont.)

•

Debt to assets, which shows how leveraged the cities capital assets are, averaged 0.27 times.

•

Also on a fund basis, capital expenditures as a percent of total expenditures averaged 32 percent, which represents the government’s commitment to adequately provide for its capital asset needs. On a fund basis, unreserved fund balance amounted to a healthy average of 39 percent of revenues, which shows that most cities can weather a temporary shortfall in revenues.

•

Debt per capita averaged $887, which represents the debt burden on each citizen.

•

•

Tax revenues per capita averaged $608, while expenses per capita averaged $859, showing the need for other types of revenue like charges for services and grants. Total grants and other non-tax revenues represented an average of 24 percent of total revenues, so these cities are more reliant on revenues from external sources. Public safety expenses are always the largest functional expense and, on average, comprised 35 percent of total expenditures. Debt service expenditures at the fund level use an average of up to 15 percent of total revenues that potentially could be used for services.

•

A complete copy of the statistical analysis can be found on our Web site at www.rubinbrown.com.

Questions? Contact:

•

Jeff Winter, CPA, CGFM Partner-in-Charge Public Sector Services Group 314-290-3408 jeff.winter@rubinbrown.com

•

35 u spring 2008 issue