Five things to know about Janesville's financial report
Print
JANESVILLE -- The city of Janesville recently released its comprehensive annual financial report and its more-accessible popular annual financial report, both of which are available at the city's website.
Here are five things to know about the city and its financials from 2014:
1. Basic facts: About 63,500 people called Janesville home in 2014, a growth of 5.6 percent from the 2000 census. They had a median income of $49,020, an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent and a poverty rate of 14.9 percent.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported the national median household income to be $52,250 in 2013, the latest numbers available. The current national unemployment rate is 5.3 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The national poverty rate was 14.5 percent in 2013, also the latest number available from the census bureau.
The median age in Janesville in 2014 was 37 years.
2. Revenue: The city budget primary operating fund, the general fund, took in $42.1 million in revenue in 2014, which was $12,300 less than City Hall expected. Sixty-seven percent of the revenue, or $28.4 million, came from taxes.
The next largest intake, $7.6 million, came from state and federal aid. Service charges, licenses, investments, rentals, fines and other sources account for the rest.
The city's total revenue reached $88.7 million in 2014, a 3.3 percent increase from the year before because of an increase property tax revenue.
Total expenses reached $84.2 million in 2014, about the same as in 2013.
3. Expenses: Despite a revenue shortfall of $12,300, general fund program spending totaled $42.3 million, about $1 million less than anticipated.
Those expenses paid for things such as police protection, 30 percent; fire protection, 24 percent; debt service, 14 percent; public works, 11 percent; general government, 8 percent; and parks and recreation, 6 percent.
4. Where property tax dollars go: Property taxes are city's biggest source of revenue, paying for everything from police and fire crews to the Hedberg Public Library and parks. An average home in Janesville pays $77.62 in monthly city property taxes.
How does that average payment get split up? About $23.11 goes to police, $15.60 to the fire department, $13.82 to public works, $8.14 to the library, $7.83 for general government and $4.86 for parks and recreation.
Other programs, such as community development and the Janesville Transit System, also get a cut of that monthly payment, but no more than $1.77.
5. Program performance: Most government programs are designed to break even, but here are a few that resulted in losses or gains in 2014.
The city's sanitation and transit services, for instance, combined for $1.08 million in losses for the city.
Meanwhile, the Hedberg Public Library reeled in $17,100 in extra income, while stormwater utilities contributed $441,700 and golf courses pitched in $35,100 in extra income.