The Office of Local Government (OLG) recently released the 16th annual Kansas County Fiscal Conditions and Trends reports. The reports are designed to aid county commissioners as they complete the budget planning process as it will help local officials understand revenue and expenditure trends in their county.
Local fiscal conditions are influenced by demographic, economic, and social trends; state and federal mandates; and local needs and preferences. This can make it difficult for county officials and others to find reliable data to evaluate county fiscal conditions and performance, however, this report provides a starting point. It uses information from the Kansas Fiscal Database to examine expenditure and revenue trends from 2005 to 2013, with the Kansas county average as a benchmark.
OLG developed the Kansas Fiscal Database that contains detailed financial information from 1989 to 2013 for 104 Kansas counties. The OLG fiscal database is the only source of uniform, detailed budget information for local governments in Kansas. This information was gathered by analyzing county budget documents on file with the Kansas Department of Administration’s Municipal Services Team.
The report begins with a presentation of population, income, and assessed valuation trends as these characteristics influence the responsibilities and capacity of county governments and establish a context for understanding fiscal trends. Total and per capita revenues and expenditures are then presented. Per capita values represent revenues or expenditures per person in the county. They can be compared to state averages and are a useful indicator of performance, especially when the county’s population has changed significantly over time.
Copies of the report were distributed to each county’s extension office, commissioners, and clerk or administrator. Reports are also available for download at www.ksu-olg.info.
For additional information, contact OLG at 785-532-2643, John Leatherman at jleather@ksu.edu, or Rebecca Bishop at rbishop@ksu.edu.
