PRESS RELEASE: Majority of U.S. cities finances worsened during beginning of COVID-19 pandemic
CHICAGO — The 2022 Financial State of the Cities (FSOC) surveys the fiscal health of the 75 largest municipalities in the United States. This report has been released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting. TIA analysts make their calculations using data from the fiscal year 2020 audited Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports on file in city halls across the country, which are not analyzed on this scale by any other organization. The fiscal year 2020 audited financial reports present the cities’ financial data during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite receiving federal assistance from the CARES Act and other COVID-19 related grants, the majority of cities’ finances worsened. Total debt among the 75 largest U.S. cities amounted to $357 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2020, which was $23.5 billion worse than the last fiscal year.
The 2022 FSOC report found that 61 cities did not have enough money to pay their bills. These 61 cities went into the COVID-19 pandemic in poor fiscal health, and they will probably come out of the crisis worse. The uncertainty surrounding this crisis makes it impossible to determine how much will be needed to maintain government services and benefits.
Each city has some form of a balanced budget requirement. This means that to balance the budget, elected officials should include the true costs of the government in their budget calculations. However, these financial reports show that they did not do this, and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers.
There is some good news as the report found that 14 of the largest cities had more than enough money to pay their bills, a key indicator of long-term financial health. Washington, DC had the best city finances in the U.S. with a $1.3 billion surplus. If you were to divide that figure by the number of DC taxpayers, hypothetically each taxpayer’s share is $4,800.
Not every city in the United States is so lucky. Many larger and older cities owe billions of dollars to unfunded retirement plans for public sector employees. New York City claimed the prize for worst municipal finances in the United States for the sixth year in a row. Every taxpayer in the Big Apple would have to pay $71,400 in order for the city to pay off all its bills. Chicago (second-worst in the nation) would need each taxpayer to pay $43,100. The average taxpayer burden across all 75 cities in the report works out to $7,731.
“The bottom line is that the majority of cities went into the pandemic in poor fiscal health and they will most likely come out of it even worse,” says Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting.
The full Financial State of the Cities report can be found online here. The full 75 city ranking is also included below:
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Full Ranking |
Alphabetical |
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1. Washington, D.C. Taxpayer Surplus: $4,800 2. Irvine, CA Taxpayer Surplus: $4,700 3. Lincoln, NE Taxpayer Surplus: $3,100 4. Plano, TX Taxpayer Surplus: $2,700 5. Aurora, CO Taxpayer Surplus: $2,600 6. Tampa, FL Taxpayer Surplus: $2,300 7. Raleigh, NC Taxpayer Surplus: $2,200 8. Fresno, CA Taxpayer Surplus: $1,300 9. Charlotte, NC Taxpayer Surplus: $1,100 10. Wichita, KS Taxpayer Surplus: $900 11. Corpus Christi, TX Taxpayer Surplus: $800 12. Colorado Springs, CO Taxpayer Surplus: $300 13. Long Beach, CA Taxpayer Surplus: $100 14. Cleveland, OH Taxpayer Surplus: $29 15. Oklahoma City, OK Taxpayer Burden: $46 16. Stockton, CA Taxpayer Burden: $300 17. Tulsa, OK Taxpayer Burden: $300 18. Arlington, TX Taxpayer Burden: $700 19. Orlando, FL Taxpayer Burden: $900 20. Minneapolis, MN Taxpayer Burden: $1,100 21. Chula Vista, CA Taxpayer Burden: $1,200 22. Bakersfield, CA Taxpayer Burden: $1,200 23. Columbus, OH Taxpayer Burden: $1,200 24. Fort Wayne, IN Taxpayer Burden: $1,300 25. Toledo, OH Taxpayer Burden: $1,400 26. Greensboro, NC Taxpayer Burden: $1,500 27. Las Vegas, NV Taxpayer Burden: $1,600 28. Henderson, NV Taxpayer Burden: $2,300 29. Riverside, CA Taxpayer Burden: $2,300 30. Seattle, WA Taxpayer Burden: $2,800 31. Louisville, KY Taxpayer Burden: $3,000 32. San Antonio, TX Taxpayer Burden: $3,100 33. Saint Paul, MN Taxpayer Burden: $3,100 34. Virginia Beach, VA Taxpayer Burden: $3,400 35. Indianapolis, IN Taxpayer Burden: $3,500 36. Sacramento, CA Taxpayer Burden: $4,300 37. Denver, CO Taxpayer Burden: $4,700 38. Atlanta, GA Taxpayer Burden: $4,800 39. Memphis, TN Taxpayer Burden: $4,800 40. El Paso, TX Taxpayer Burden: $4,900 41. Santa Ana, CA Taxpayer Burden: $5,300 42. Mesa, AZ Taxpayer Burden: $6,200 43. Anchorage, AK Taxpayer Burden: $6,200 44. Los Angeles, CA Taxpayer Burden: $6,400 45. San Diego, CA Taxpayer Burden: $6,400 46. Albuquerque, NM Taxpayer Burden: $6,400 47. Phoenix, AZ Taxpayer Burden: $6,500 48. Anaheim, CA Taxpayer Burden: $6,600 49. Detroit, MI Taxpayer Burden: $7,600 50. Omaha, NE Taxpayer Burden: $7,700 51. Tucson, AZ Taxpayer Burden: $8,300 52. Fort Worth, TX Taxpayer Burden: $9,300 53. San Jose, CA Taxpayer Burden: $10,200 54. Jacksonville, FL Taxpayer Burden: $10,200 55. Austin, TX Taxpayer Burden: $10,300 56. Lexington, KY Taxpayer Burden: $10,500 57. Boston, MA Taxpayer Burden: $10,600 58. Dallas, TX Taxpayer Burden: $12,700 59. Kansas City, MO Taxpayer Burden: $12,800 60. Houston, TX Taxpayer Burden: $13,200 61. Miami, FL Taxpayer Burden: $13,800 62. Pittsburgh, PA Taxpayer Burden: $14,900 63. Milwaukee, WI Taxpayer Burden: $15,000 64. Oakland, CA Taxpayer Burden: $17,200 65. St. Louis, MO Taxpayer Burden: $17,500 66. Cincinnati, OH Taxpayer Burden: $18,200 67. San Francisco, CA Taxpayer Burden: $19,000 68. Nashville, TN Taxpayer Burden: $19,800 69. New Orleans, LA Taxpayer Burden: $19,900 70. Baltimore, MD Taxpayer Burden: $21,300 71. Portland, OR Taxpayer Burden: $24,900 72. Philadelphia, PA Taxpayer Burden: $25,900 73. Honolulu, HI Taxpayer Burden: $31,700 74. Chicago, IL Taxpayer Burden: $43,100 75. New York City, NY Taxpayer Burden: $71,400 |
Albuquerque, NM Taxpayer Burden: $6,400 Anaheim, CA Taxpayer Burden: $6,600 Anchorage, AK Taxpayer Burden: $6,200 Arlington, TX Taxpayer Burden: $700 Atlanta, GA Taxpayer Burden: $4,800 Aurora, CO Taxpayer Surplus: $2,600 Austin, TX Taxpayer Burden: $10,300 Bakersfield, CA Taxpayer Burden: $1,200 Baltimore, MD Taxpayer Burden: $21,300 Boston, MA Taxpayer Burden: $10,600 Charlotte, NC Taxpayer Surplus: $1,100 Chicago, IL Taxpayer Burden: $43,100 Chula Vista, CA Taxpayer Burden: $1,200 Cincinnati, OH Taxpayer Burden: $18,200 Cleveland, OH Taxpayer Surplus: $29 Colorado Springs, CO Taxpayer Surplus: $300 Columbus, OH Taxpayer Burden: $1,200 Corpus Christi, TX Taxpayer Surplus: $800 Dallas, TX Taxpayer Burden: $12,700 Denver, CO Taxpayer Burden: $4,700 Detroit, MI Taxpayer Burden: $7,600 El Paso, TX Taxpayer Burden: $4,900 Fort Wayne, IN Taxpayer Burden: $1,300 Fort Worth, TX Taxpayer Burden: $9,300 Fresno, CA Taxpayer Surplus: $1,300 Greensboro, NC Taxpayer Burden: $1,500 Henderson, NV Taxpayer Burden: $2,300 Honolulu, HI Taxpayer Burden: $31,700 Houston, TX Taxpayer Burden: $13,200 Indianapolis, IN Taxpayer Burden: $3,500 Irvine, CA Taxpayer Surplus: $4,700 Jacksonville, FL Taxpayer Burden: $10,200 Kansas City, MO Taxpayer Burden: $12,800 Las Vegas, NV Taxpayer Burden: $1,600 Lexington, KY Taxpayer Burden: $10,500 Lincoln, NE Taxpayer Surplus: $3,100 Long Beach, CA Taxpayer Surplus: $100 Los Angeles, CA Taxpayer Burden: $6,400 Louisville, KY Taxpayer Burden: $3,000 Memphis, TN Taxpayer Burden: $4,800 Mesa, AZ Taxpayer Burden: $6,200 Miami, FL Taxpayer Burden: $13,800 Milwaukee, WI Taxpayer Burden: $15,000 Minneapolis, MN Taxpayer Burden: $1,100 Nashville, TN Taxpayer Burden: $19,800 New Orleans, LA Taxpayer Burden: $19,900 New York City, NY Taxpayer Burden: $71,400 Oakland, CA Taxpayer Burden: $17,200 Oklahoma City, OK Taxpayer Burden: $46 Omaha, NE Taxpayer Burden: $7,700 Orlando, FL Taxpayer Burden: $900 Philadelphia, PA Taxpayer Burden: $25,900 Phoenix, AZ Taxpayer Burden: $6,500 Pittsburgh, PA Taxpayer Burden: $14,900 Plano, TX Taxpayer Surplus: $2,700 Portland, OR Taxpayer Burden: $24,900 Raleigh, NC Taxpayer Surplus: $2,200 Riverside, CA Taxpayer Burden: $2,300 Sacramento, CA Taxpayer Burden: $4,300 Saint Paul, MN Taxpayer Burden: $3,100 San Antonio, TX Taxpayer Burden: $3,100 San Diego, CA Taxpayer Burden: $6,400 San Francisco, CA Taxpayer Burden: $19,000 San Jose, CA Taxpayer Burden: $10,200 Santa Ana, CA Taxpayer Burden: $5,300 Seattle, WA Taxpayer Burden: $2,800 St. Louis, MO Taxpayer Burden: $17,500 Stockton, CA Taxpayer Burden: $300 Tampa, FL Taxpayer Surplus: $2,300 Toledo, OH Taxpayer Burden: $1,400 Tucson, AZ Taxpayer Burden: $8,300 Tulsa, OK Taxpayer Burden: $300 Virginia Beach, VA Taxpayer Burden: $3,400 Washington, D.C. Taxpayer Surplus: $4,800 Wichita, KS Taxpayer Surplus: $900 |
The Financial State of the Cities report is an in-depth study of the financial condition in America’s largest cities. Data for this report was derived from cities’ 2020 annual comprehensive financial reports. As of January 15, 2022, New Orleans, LA had not released their 2020 annual financial reports. Therefore, we were forced to use fiscal year 2019 information for this city.
Founded in 2002, Truth in Accounting is dedicated to educating and empowering citizens with understandable, reliable, and transparent government financial information. Sheila Weinberg is a Certified Public Accountant with more than 40 years of experience in the field.