ST. LOUIS – A new report analyzing the financial health of many large U.S. cities ranks St. Louis among the worst cities in fiscal health, giving it a fiscal grade of “D.”
Truth in Accounting, a nonprofit that analyzes national trends in financial data, on Thursday released its “Cities' Financial State in 2024” report. The report provided insight into the 75 largest U.S. cities and their finances.
St. Louis ranks 64th out of 75 U.S. cities in terms of fiscal health. Truth in Accounting determined that St. Louis would need nearly $1 billion to cancel its debt, meaning the average taxpayer would end up paying more than $11,000.
In fact, only 22 of the 75 cities analyzed reported a taxpayer surplus.
Truth in Accounting found that despite increases in tax revenues and COVID-19 relief funds, dozens of major U.S. cities do not have enough money to pay down their debts.
The report says the city of St. Louis has improved its financial position slightly due to tax revenue and relief fund help, but the increase is a bit deceptive because pension data is outdated.
“If the City of St. Louis’ pension investments experience the same significant decline that most other cities experienced in 2022, St. Louis’ pension obligations would increase further,” the report states. “Investment market values have fluctuated dramatically in recent years. This fluctuation illustrates the risk to taxpayers when the City provides defined pension benefits to its employees.”
The report notes that the city of St. Louis had set aside only 87 cents of every dollar of promised pension benefits and no money for promised retiree health benefits.
Truth in Accounting also notes that continued market volatility, changes in investment values, reductions in COVID-19 relief funds, and a stabilizing economy could delay tax collections, creating additional risks to the city's fiscal health. He pointed out that there is.
The report ranks Washington, D.C., as having the best fiscal health with an average taxpayer surplus of $10,700, and New York City ranks as having the worst fiscal health with an average taxpayer burden of $61,800. It was done.
