CITY AUDITOR RELEASES BIENNIAL CHECK-UP

OF CITY GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL CONDITION

Portland City Auditor Gary Blackmer recently released the biennial check-up on the City Government’s financial condition.  This is the latest in a series of Financial Condition reports by the City Auditor's office, as a check-up on how well the City is doing financially.

The report, Financial Condition in the City of Portland: 1999-2008, is available for download from the Audit Services Division website at: http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/auditservices. 

A direct link to the report on the web is at: http://www.portlandonline.com/auditor/index.cfm?c=49566&a=238637

From the Press Release:

Some favorable trends in the report include:   

*  Revenues and expenditures have largely paralelleled each other.   

*  The composition of City revenues is diversified between sources that are more stable, such as property taxes, and revenues that fluctuate with the economy, such as business licenses.   

*  The number of City employees per resident has remained constant.  

*  Property values have continued to increase, and population has grown at a modest rate.

The most significant challenges the report identifies are:  

*  Portland’s annual unemployment rate has been higher than the national unemployment rate every year since 1999.  

*  Property taxes grew by 37%, while the amount of property taxes dedicated to support urban renewal bonds has almost doubled in the last decade.  

*  Total outstanding bond principal increased 87% in the last decade.  

*  The City's Fire and Police Disability and Retirement liability has increased significantly.

The report displays 23 financial and demographic indicators to give its assessment.

For more information about the City's budget and financial statements, please visit the Office of Management and Finance website at:  www.portlandonline.com/omf