FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE CHEAT SHEET:
Understanding the Benchmarks
Each year the City produces and sends the Annual Report and Resident Guide directly to Westerville homes. Mailed in the spring, the publication includes a rundown of how your favorite City programs and departments performed the prior year. It also includes a high-level summary of the City’s financial performance. Take one look at our website, www.westerville.org/finance, and you’ll know the City takes pride in managing the financial responsibilities with the utmost care and excellent stewardship. For 37 consecutive years, the Government Finance Officers Association has awarded the City its Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its comprehensive annual financial reporting, an honor earned by less than 2% of the nation’s government entities. Add to that the City’s consistent Aaa rating from Moody’s Investors Service, AAA rating from S&P, an AAA rating from Fitch and State Auditors recognitions, you get an equation for financial excellence. WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM? Westerville programs and services are mostly funded by income tax. Income is taxed at 2% in Westerville. Westerville residents working in another city, receive credit for taxes paid to other cities, up to the 2% tax rate. (Essentially this means that Westerville residents working in other cities may have no income tax liability to the City of Westerville.) Within the 2% tax rate, there is a levy of 0.25% that supports Parks and Recreation. The levy was passed by the residential voters. Those individuals who work in the City qualify for resident rates when it comes to Parks programming and Community Center passes since they are paying Westerville income tax thereby supporting the City services. WHAT ABOUT PROPERTY TAXES? The majority of your property tax dollars support Westerville City Schools, the Westerville Public Library and the county in which you live (Westerville is in both Delaware and Franklin counties). The schools and library are separate entities, not a part of the City. Tax dollars collected on behalf of the schools and library are distributed by the counties directly to those entities. Tax dollars that are distributed to the City provide operating dollars for fire protection and emergency medical services (Fire Fund), as well as 10% of the General Fund’s annual operating revenue.
WHAT IS THE GENERAL FUND? This fund accounts for and reports all financial resources except those required to be accounted for in another fund. The General Fund balance is available to the City for any purpose provided it is expended or transferred according to the general laws of Ohio and the Charter of the City. Other major revenue sources include charges for services, intergovernmental revenue, fees/licenses and permits, fines and forfeitures, interest and fiscal charges. HOW ABOUT EXPENDITURES? The City’s top operating expenditures include: q Security of Persons and Property (fire and police services) q Public Health q Basic Utility Services q Community Development q General Government
By function, the City’s top five spending supports: 1. Fire Service 2. Police Services 3. Parks & Recreation 4. Planning & Development 5. Administration NO NEED TO WAIT. FIND CITY DATA, YEAR-TO-DATE. The Annual Report provides a valuable overview of the prior year’s performance. If you’re looking for more current information right away, it can be found on the City’s Transparency Hub. This resource provides current and archival data, so you can compare the City’s performance to years past. Updating intervals vary depending on a variety of factors, including data availability. Start your deep dive at www.westerville.org/transparency. You can even export data for your convenience. WANT TO LEARN MORE? City staff members are happy to chat, providing more information and context for what you find. Call the City Manager’s office at (614) 901-6400 to be directed to the right department.
DIVE INTO DEPARTMENTAL EXPENSES New data types are always being added to the Transparency Hub. For now, you can take a closer look at spending for Divisions of Police and Fire, as well as the Parks & Recreation Department. Visit www.westerville.org/transparency for the most up-to-date information.
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