Analyzing the fiscal health of your community

When preparing the upcoming budget, it’s always useful to have a clear picture of how your community arrived at its present financial condition and the trends that contributed to its current state. Communities should take stock of their overall fiscal condition, rather than zeroing in on specific measures individually and at a certain point in time. These resources can be used to assist analyses used to identify favorable, unfavorable, or marginal trends for local officials to make informed decisions impacting their community’s fiscal health.

Use data and other information gain insight on the status of a municipality’s fiscal health.

DLS Community Dashboards

• City and Town Municipal Finance Snapshots
• Community Comparison Report
• Municipal Finance Trend

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Annual audits

• Audit Firms (PDF)
• Municipal Audits: FAQs (PDF)
• Overview of Municipal Audits Webinar Recording (Video)
• Overview of Municipal Audits Webinar Slides (PDF)

Bond ratings

• A Deeper Dive Into Municipal Debt - Credit rating agencies (Video)
• Explanation of Moody's Bond Ratings (PDF)
• Explanation of Standard and Poor's Bond Ratings (PDF)
• Report: Trends in Municipal Bond Ratings (Databank report)

Financial indicators analysis

• Debt Service (Video)
• Introduction: Financial Indicators (Video)
• Long-Term Debt (Video)
• Net Operating Revenue (Video)
• Operating Expenditures (Video)
• Pension Liability (Video)
• Personnel Costs (Video)
• Population & Enrollment (Video)
• Property Tax Revenue (Video)
• Reserves (Video)
• Revenues Related to Economic Growth (Video)
• State Aid as a Percentage of Operating Revenue (Video)
• The Importance of Annual Municipal Audits (PDF)
• Uncollected Property Taxes as a Percentage of Tax Levy (Video)

Tools

• Financial Indicators Template (XLS)