City Finances in Iowa, 1975-1984 prepared by David Swenson, February 1986

(1986) City Finances in Iowa, 1975-1984 prepared by David Swenson, February 1986. University of Iowa

Preview

PDF city_financies_in_iowa_1986_OCR_.pdf File Size:14MB

Abstract

City finances are complex because cities are complex operations. They get their money from many sources, not just property taxes, as many people think; and they have a wide variety of expenditures ranging from animal control to zoos. But more importantly, cities provide many essential services such as fire and police protection, street and sidewalk construction, libraries, parks and recreation facilities, water, sewers, garbage collection, transit, and snow removal. This Iowa local government finance report is the most comprehensive analysis of city finances ever made in Iowa. Because of the complexity and detailed nature of city finance information, in the past it would have been very difficult and costly to compile this information in any reliable detail. But thanks to the assistance of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, which supplied a computer tape of this information for each city to the Institute. We can now make these analyses in a cost effective manner. Furthermore, this information will be available each year for future comparisons. This, report has two parts. The first part analyzes the trends and changes in city revenues and expenditures from 1975 to 1984. The second part analyzes in detail the kinds of revenues and expenditures by five categories of cities grouped by size.