The Auditor of Public Accounts provides the citizens of Virginia with a way to see what is happening financially, with their specific County, City or Town.
On a website entitled “Commonwealth Data Point: Transparency at Work in Virginia” you can find information about expenses and revenue at the State-wide level or by jurisdiction. For instance, by clicking on the Local Government tab at the top, you get a drop-down menu that allows you to choose from “Expenditures”, “Revenues”, or “Local Comparison Analysis”.
Both “Expenditures” and “Revenues” then allow you choose “County”, “City”, or “Town”. This will take you to a list of all of the jurisdictions within the chosen category and provides the overall information for FY2002 thru FY2008.
Example 1: Local Government Expenditures (note that all of those numbers in blue are links which will take you to more detailed information)
| Locality | Type | FY2008 | FY2007 | FY2006 | FY2005 | FY2004 | FY2003 | FY2002 |
| Blacksburg | Town | $ 24,677,453 | $ 20,804,320 | $ 24,279,069 | $ 17,181,905 | $ 15,382,076 | $ 15,063,580 | $ 15,146,720 |
| Christiansburg | Town | $ 19,127,640 | $ 17,386,430 | $ 15,334,119 | $ 15,282,102 | $ 13,515,222 | $ 11,912,002 | $ 11,808,618 |
…and …
Example 2: Local Government Revenues (note that all of those numbers in blue are links which will take you to more detailed information)
| Locality | Type | FY2008 | FY2007 | FY2006 | FY2005 | FY2004 | FY2003 | FY2002 |
| Blacksburg | Town | $ 24,941,316 | $ 23,293,800 | $ 25,267,139 | $ 21,382,070 | $ 18,408,501 | $ 17,013,390 | $ 15,870,137 |
| Christiansburg | Town | $ 23,164,373 | $ 22,037,918 | $ 20,052,368 | $ 16,998,678 | $ 14,026,125 | $ 13,051,334 |
The Local Comparison Analysis option allows you to select two different localities, select fiscal years for those localities
Example 3: Comparison of Towns of Christiansburg and Front Royal for the Fiscal Year 2007 (Details on 2008 do not seem to be available yet … possible effect of budget cuts?)
| Revenue Source | Christiansburg FY2007 | Front Royal FY2007 |
| General Property Taxes |
$2,664,912.00 |
$1,405,910.00 |
| Other Local Tax |
$11,006,750.00 |
$3,815,514.00 |
| Permits, Fees and Licenses |
$211,538.00 |
$101,763.00 |
| Fines and Forfeitures |
$148,523.00 |
$356,631.00 |
| Money and Property |
$1,356,213.00 |
$291,643.00 |
| Miscellaneous Revenue |
$239,534.00 |
$279,288.00 |
| Charges for Services |
$2,625,384.00 |
$902,883.00 |
| TOTAL LOCAL REVENUE |
$18,252,854.00 |
$7,153,632.00 |
| STATE REVENUE |
$3,785,064.00 |
$2,268,529.00 |
| FEDERAL REVENUE |
$0.00 |
$822.00 |
| TOTAL REVENUE |
$22,037,918.00 |
$9,422,983.00 |
| Expenditures | Christiansburg FY2007 | Front Royal FY2007 |
| General Government |
$1,671,785.00 |
$2,291,155.00 |
| Judicial Administration |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| Public Safety |
$5,824,693.00 |
$3,553,958.00 |
| Public Works |
$6,353,801.00 |
$3,675,203.00 |
| Health and Welfare |
$19,674.00 |
$49,523.00 |
| Parks and Recreation |
$1,965,578.00 |
$61,712.00 |
| Community Development |
$1,550,899.00 |
$549,706.00 |
| Nondepartmental |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| Education |
$0.00 |
$0.00 |
| TOTAL EXPENDITURES |
$17,386,430.00 |
$10,181,257.00 |
The key to effectively using this data is to make sure you are not comparing “apples to oranges”. Demographically, Christiansburg more closely fits into the same profile as Front Royal rather than say… Blacksburg.
Blacksburg has a population nearly twice that of Christiansburg and Front Royal. Blacksburg’s Population Density is also roughly twice that of Christiansburg and Front Royal. Christiansburg shows a Median Household income of nearly twice that of Blacksburg due to the number of students in Blacksburg that skew the data, but Christiansburg and Front Royal are fairly close.
While Vienna and Herndon are both close in total population to Christiansburg, that is where all similarities cease. Vienna and Herndon both have approximately 1/3 the land area, twice the population density (Vienna) and 5 times the density (Herndon), and twice the Median Household Income.
In other words, for Christiansburg data to be compared to Vienna or Herndon, you have to keep in mind that they are significantly different in many areas. Front Royal more closely matches the demographics of the Christiansburg population.
Taking a look at the 2009 Comparative Data that is also available on the APA website one can take a much closer look at Towns.
| Christiansburg FY2009 | Front Royal FY2009 | |
| Local Revenues | $19,906,287.00 | $7,443638 |
| Maintenance & Operations Expenditures | $24,132,857.00 | $11,534,630.00 |
| Real Property Taxes | $2,102,749.00 | $1,053,313.00 |
| Other Local Taxes | $12,382,884.00 | $3,520,449.00 |
| Charges for Services | $2,857,291.00 | $963,776.00 |
| Local Sales and Use Taxes | $1,558,600.00 | $690,993.00 |
| Consumer Utility Taxes | $516,537.00 | $181,779.00 |
| Business License Taxes | $1,990,500.00 | $620,567.00 |
| Franchise License Taxes | $112,988.00 | $1,500.00 |
| Motor Vehicle License Taxes | $410,439.00 | $223,417.00 |
| Hotel & Motel Room Taxes | $851,512.00 | $277,217.00 |
| Restaurant Food Taxes | $4,684,404.00 | $1,195,175.00 |
| TOTAL TAXE REVENUE | $12,382,884.00 | $3,520,449.00 |
| Per Capita Taxes | $730.68 | $259.07 |
|
Law Enforcement |
$5,335,087.00 |
$3,733,086.00 |
|
Fire and Rescue |
$1,200,377.00 |
$0.00 |
|
Streets, Bridges & Sidewalks |
$3,783,684.00 |
$3,858,639.00 |
|
Sanitation and Waste Removal |
$2,251,095.00 |
$1,036,939.00 |
|
Buildings and Grounds |
$338,909.00 |
$207,389.00 |
|
Welfare/Social Services |
$21,801.00 |
$56,764.00 |
|
Tax Relief for the Elderly/Handicapped |
$18,761.00 |
$57,764.00 |
|
Parks and Recreation |
$1,758,405.00 |
$74,210.00 |
|
Planning and Community Development |
$1,260,387.00 |
$990,192.00 |
|
Personnel Services |
$8,064,305.00 |
$7,424,633.00 |
|
Fringe Benefits |
$3,407,526.00 |
$104,014.00 |
|
Total General Government Expenditures |
$18,122,194.00 |
$12,830,790.00 |
|
Total Gross Debt |
$23,066093 |
$13,497,361.00 |
I hope that some of you will take the time to explore the offerings found on this website. It is there for citizens and is a good example of Open Government!
Sue T
June 16, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Wow, shows where Christiansburg’s priorities are and where they are not! Looks like our town leaders need to learn some lessons from Front Royal.