South DaCola

Citizen Debt Burden in Sioux Falls and poverty levels

l3wis
 l3wis

I found this figure in the city audit that will be presented in the info meeting this morning, very interesting. Notice the massive climb in debt in just one year. 

Figure 10

Long-term Debt to Population (Debt per Capita)

 

Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Review

 

Standard & Poor Debt per Capita averages

Low: <$1,000

Moderate: $1,000 – $2,500

High: >$2,500

 

Conclusion: Long-term debt for the City of Sioux Falls increased dramatically in 2007 and 2008 primarily due to bonding for the Lewis and Clark water system project and other infrastructure projects.[1]  However, the City of Sioux Falls is still in the moderate category for debt per capita according to credit industry analyst Standard & Poor.  Sioux Falls is considerably below the average debt per capita of the ten comparison cities.

 

I also found this section interesting, especially the 11% poverty rating. Which I think is probably a lot higher consdering the census numbers probably didn’t include this year. Also considering that almost half of the kids in our school district receive FREE or reduced meals.

 

Characteristics of the ten communities used for comparison

We reviewed data from the United States Census Bureau American Community Survey for 2005-2007 to identify ten Midwestern communities with similarities to Sioux Falls.[1]  The comparison cities (urbanized areas) were:

  1. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  2. Duluth, Minnesota
  3. Eau Claire, Wisconsin
  4. Fargo, North Dakota-Minnesota
  5. Green Bay, Wisconsin
  6. La Crosse, Wisconsin-Minnesota
  7. Racine, Wisconsin
  8. Saint Cloud, Minnesota
  9. Sioux City, Iowa-Nebraska-South Dakota
  10. Topeka, Kansas

 

The eight measures we used to identify these comparison cities were:

  • Population of the urban area.
  • Median age of population.
  • Median household income.
  • Median value of owner-occupied housing.
  • Poverty level: percent of population living at or below federal poverty income level.
  • Geographic mobility: percent of population (at least one year old) living in the same residence as a year earlier.
  • Education: percent of population (25 years and older) who had at least a high school degree.
  • Housing: percent of housing built after 1990.

 

Measure

 

Sioux Falls

Average of the ten communities

Population

147,000

127,354

Median age in years

34.5

34.1

Median household income

$47,551

$43,908

Median value housing

$134,100

$129,800

Poverty level

11%

15%

Geographic mobility

78%

79%

Education

90%

89%

Housing built after 1990

32%

21%

 

Although every city is unique, we believe that the ten comparison communities, when looked at as a composite, are very similar to many characteristics of Sioux Falls.  In addition, the local governments are “full-service” governments, like the City of Sioux Falls.  They offer a wide variety of government services including public safety, utilities, street maintenance, parks & recreation, et cetera.

 

And speaking of the poverty level, the YWCA will also give a report on their summer meal program during the same meeting. Notice the 16% increase from last year.

 

 

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