This is always a bone of contention. Even in a small jurisdiction, the answer to this quesiton can take many forms. For instance, back when I was writing my column, my benchmark was always “What was the increase in the general fund?” Having spent some time on the “inside” now, I see how simplistic this approach is. See the general fund doesn’t reflect just local tax money. There is also state and federal money stirred into that pot. This year’s increase has been reported as being in excess of 11%. This isn’t entirely accurate as the following chart (from our budget presentation) shows:
See that 6.8% increase in “School Debt Service”? That, as I understand it, is a new accounting requirement. School debt service is actually paid by the City but the schools give us the money for it. If you take that out, things start to look a little more reasonable.
As a final note, I don’t post this in my own defense. Just as information and to head off the inevitable (and reasonable) question: “where does all that money go”? 4% growth in the budget is pretty easy to defend if you are going to give employees raises, hire some more police and buy a new ambulance.