8 / 24
8
•
W W W . F O R W A R D J A N E S V I L L E . C O M
Janesville By the Numbers
The Wisconsin Taxpayers’ Alliance’s Municipal Facts publication compares Janesville with
the 23 other cities in Wisconsin with populations between 30,000 and 150,000 (Milwaukee
and Madison are not included in these calculations). It uses the most recently available
data, from 2013 and 2014. We recently did an exhaustive analysis of this publication and
the facts and figures led to some interesting conclusions.
SPENDING
Janesville is a frugally managed city. Our city’s
spending on most governmental services is
below the state “median” (the “median” is the
middle point in a set of numbers, while the
“mean” is the average of a set of numbers).
In the latest year that data is available (2013),
Janesville ranked 23rd out of 24 cities in
“basic” spending, which includes core
municipal services like street maintenance,
law enforcement and fire/ambulance services.
Our city spent $487 “per capita” (e.g., per
person) on these services, trailing only Sun
Prairie ($485). The city ranked just ahead of us
(Oshkosh) spent $525; the state median was
$606. For comparison’s sake, Beloit spent
$736 per citizen on these items.
Street maintenance spending is worth a
special mention, as it is commonly in the local
news. Our city spent $62 per person on street
maintenance in 2013, trailing only Kenosha
($37 per person). The state median on street
maintenance was $106 per person. This said,
the city has made a concerted effort to
increase street maintenance spending over
the past few years, effectively doubling the
street rehabilitation program since 2014.
BORROWING
No one likes debt, but it is an essential
element of municipal finance. When used
properly, borrowing can be an effective tool for
long-term capital projects like roads or sewers.
The most common form of municipal
borrowing known as is General Obligation
(G.O.) Debt. G.O. Debt is “backed by the full
faith, credit and taxing power of the issuing
government. This means that governments are
legally obligated to levy the taxes necessary to
pay the debt service payments on these
bonds. The Wisconsin Constitution limits G.O.
debt of municipalities to five percent of the
taxable value within their respective
jurisdictions.” (The Wisconsin Taxpayer, April
2014)
Janesville carried just over $75 million in
general obligation debt in 2013. While this is a
lot of money, it is not unusual for a city of
Janesville’s size to carry this much debt. The
larger a community is, the more it tends to
borrow. The important figures to focus on are
not necessarily the total amount of debt, but
the amount of debt per capita and the city’s
percentage of the debt limit.
Janesville’s amount of debt per citizen—
$1,182 per person—was well below the state
median of $1,427 per citizen. Only Appleton
($379 per citizen), Sheboygan ($819),
Greenfield ($1,005) and New Berlin ($1,151)
had less debt per capita than Janesville.
Menomonee Falls had the most debt per
capita ($2,762), while Beloit came in near the
middle at $1,486 per citizen.
As for percentage of debt limit, remember that
Wisconsin municipalities can only borrow up to
five percent of its overall taxable value.
Janesville had borrowed about 40 percent of
what it could by law in 2013. This puts us in
the middle of the pack; the state median is 43
percent. Beloit had borrowed nearly 80
percent of its constitutionally imposed limit in
2013, the highest percentage of any large
Wisconsin municipality. Appleton was the
lowest, checking in at 12 percent of borrowing
capacity.
Therefore, Janesville is in a good position
when it comes to debt, and actually has a
significant amount of unused borrowing
capacity.
PROPERTY TAXES
Property taxes are usually the largest source
of revenue for Wisconsin cities. However,
according to Municipal Facts, “Property tax
8
•
W . F O R W A R D J A N E S V I L L E . C O M