Austin News

Austin received a D grade from Truth in Accounting after the organization released its ranking of U.S. cities on Jan. 26.

For five years, Truth in Accounting has released a comprehensive analysis of 75 of the most populated cities in the United States called the Fiscal State of the Cities.

The organization ranks cities based on whether taxpayers would see a surplus of money after a city’s bills are paid or how much taxpayers would each have to contribute for a city to pay all of its accounts.

The top five cities are “Sunshine Cities,” and the bottom are labeled “Sinkhole Cities.”

Austin ranked 51st out of 75 cities.

Truth in Accounting’s report also showed that the city was in poor fiscal health before the pandemic began. In fact, the organization noted that it had a taxpayer burden of $7,600 based on the audited financial report for fiscal year 2019.

The city’s debt burden is in the billions — $ 2.1 billion to be exact — or $7,600 for every taxpayer in the city, the report found.

Unfunded retirement obligations are a large part of the city’s debt. While $9.4 billion is promised, the city has a shortfall of $2.9 billion for pension benefits and $2.4 billion in retiree healthcare benefits that are not funded.

At the time of analysis, the city had $4.3 billion in funds available but $6.4 billion in outstanding obligations, the report found.

Truth in Accounting noted that the city’s financial position worsened by $1.1 billion because of investment losses for the city’s pension plans. Also, it looks like the city may lose revenue for the year, based on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects.

In total, for all 75 cities ranked, the debt came to $333.5 billion at the end of the 2019 fiscal year.

Truth in Accounting is a non-profit right-leaning think-tank that analyzes governmental fiscal data.