In this assignment, you will need to assess the budgetary situation of an Arizona city and compare it two other cities in Arizona. First, you will need to select a city in Arizona other than the two comparison cities (Tucson and Glendale). Second you will need to gather primary source documents, specifically the most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the city you’ve chosen and use it to gather the following information:
· Economic and Demographic Characteristics:
o Population changes over the last 10 years [Statistical Section, CAFR]
o Economic indicators [Statistical Section, CAFR]
· Revenue sources:
o Major revenue sources [Statistical Section, CAFR]
o Trends in these sources over time [Statistical Section, CAFR]
o Relevant tax rates and recent changes in those rates
· Expenditures:
o Major expenditure categories [Statistical Section, CAFR]
o Trends in expenditure categories over time [Statistical Section, CAFR]
· Debt:
o Total bonded debt or long-term liabilities [Statistical Section, CAFR]
o Trends bonded debt in long-term liabilities over time [Statistical Section, CAFR]
· Fund Balances:
o General fund balance [Statistical Section, CAFR]
o Unreserved/Unassigned fund balance [Statistical Section, CAFR]
o Trends over time [Statistical Section, CAFR]
Present the above information in an Excel spreadsheet in such a way that it is both readable and easy to manipulate (e.g. construct charts).
Using the data provided on the comparison cities, assess the following in a paper of no more than 1,000 words:
· What are the political priorities of your chosen government as expressed by its financial choices?
o What does the government spend comparatively more on and what does it spend comparatively less on relative to the comparison cities?
o What does the government tax comparatively more and what does the government tax comparatively less relative to the comparison cities?
o Does anything in your demographic and economic data help you understand these political priorities? If so, explain why. If not, how do you explain these political priorities?
· How well-prepared for a recession is the government you have identified?
o How diverse are the revenue sources relative to the comparison cities?
o How much of annual expenditures could be covered with reserves? How does this compare to the comparison cities?
o What is the long-term liability situation of the city? How does it compare to other cities?
Item
Possible Points
Grade
Comments
Information
Economics & Demographics
2
Revenues
2
Expenditures
2
Debt
2
Fund Balances &
Reserves
2
Presentation
2
Analysis
Political Priorities
4
Potential Problems
4
Total
20
