TRIAL BALANCE DATA AND DESCRIPTIONS - MUNICIPAL BENCHMARKS

Exhibit 1 - Details Regarding Revenue Categories

The purpose of this exhibit is to provide a listing, although not an exhaustive list, of the types of revenues found in the major object revenue categories in the Municipal Benchmarking System.

Property Taxes

Revenue derived from property taxes levied.  Below are the primary components of this revenue category.

Intergovernmental

Revenue derived from the state and federal government and other governmental entities.  The Benchmarking System separately identifies revenues from state, federal, and other governmental sources as well as presenting an aggregate of all intergovernmental revenues.  There are typically a number of grants and other payments provided to a municipality on an annual basis, the majority of which are derived from the state.  Such grants and payments fall into one of the following general intergovernmental revenue categories.

• state and federal grants to be used for a capital project or a capital related purpose;

• state and federal grants to be used for a particular purpose related to the municipality’s operations;

• payments made by the State government to reimburse a municipality for a portion of its property tax revenue lost (State PILOT payments);

• state shared revenues commonly referred to as municipal revenue sharing, which are revenue collected by the State from various sources and then distributed to municipalities, typically as unrestricted revenues; and

• other grants and payments provided that are not restricted to be expended for specific purposes.

The following are a list of some of the common grants provided to municipalities on an annual basis:

Charges for Services

Revenues derived from services being performed.

Below are a list of some of the common fees charged by a municipality:

Licenses and Permits

Revenues derived from license and permitting fees.

Below are a list of some of the common fees collected from this revenue source:

Fines & Special Assessments

Revenue derived from fines and special assessments.  Components of this revenue source includes court fines, library fines, public safety fines, and receipts from sewer assessments.

Rents and Royalties

Revenue for rental, use charges, and other income on real property held for investment purposes.  Components of this revenue source would include receipts generated from rents and building use fees on buildings and other real property owned by the municipality, and income received from cell towers owned by the municipality.

Investment Earnings

Revenue from short-term and long-term investments.  Components of this revenue source would include interest and dividends on investments, bank accounts, and other interest/dividend yielding instruments, gains recognized from sale of investments, and unrealized changes in the fair value of investments.

Other Financing Sources

Transactions that causes an increase in a municipality’s financial position but which are not considered revenues under generally accepted accounting principles.  Typical components would include proceeds generated from the issuance of bonds, proceeds generated from the sale of capital assets, interfund transfers in, and capital leases.

Other Revenues

Any source of receipts not identified above.  Revenue from conveyance taxes would be considered a component of this category.

Exhibit 2 – Municipal Expenditures by Functions and Departments

The UCOA developed by the State of Connecticut for its municipalities provides for the classification of municipal expenditures by function, whereby the related department expenditure activities aimed at accomplishing a major service or regulatory responsibility are grouped under the applicable expenditure functions.  However, mapping each and every department within each local municipal accounting system to its UCOA counterpart within the mapping tool was not deemed necessary in order to provide for effective analysis, reporting, and benchmarking.  The detailed departments in a given municipality were therefore mapped, in general, to logical, higher-level departments.  For certain departments in a municipality's accounting system, a one-for-one mapping did occur to identify the expenditures of those specific departments. The following are the identified department categories that were used for mapping and reporting, outlined by their associated functional expenditure categories:

Enterprise Funds and Associated Functions and Departments

Exhibit 3 –Non-Financial Information Used in Municipal Benchmarks

Municipal Benchmarks includes certain non-financial information derived from State and Federal sources as indicated below.

Population:  The population figures presented in Municipal Benchmarks and used in the per capita presentations are as of July 1 following the end of each fiscal year.  At times the population figures for a particular fiscal year may not yet be available, in such circumstances the latest fiscal year population will be provided until the applicable population figures become available.  The July 1 figures are published annually by the Connecticut State Department of Public Health, as “Estimated Population in Connecticut as of July 1”.

Area in Square Miles:  The United States Census Bureau implemented a computerized mapping system to determine the area in square miles of municipalities.  This information was derived from the 2010 U.S. Census.

Miles of Roads:  The road miles information presented for each municipality is as of December 31, and was derived from the Connecticut State Dept. of Transportation.

Equalized Net Grand List:  The Equalized Net Grand List (ENGL) is the estimate of the market value of all taxable property in a municipality.  Municipalities revalue their Grand Lists based on schedules established by the Connecticut General Assembly (CGS 12-62).  Thus, there can be a marked difference between the market value of all property and the assessed value.  The information presented is derived from the State Office of Policy and Management (OPM) based upon the ENGL for the applicable grand list year as calculated by OPM based upon sales and assessment ratio information and grand list reports filed by each municipality.

School Enrollment:  School enrollment is the average daily membership (ADM), which represents pre-K through grade 12 resident students who are the educational and fiscal responsibility of the school district on October 1.  The ADM presented is derived from the Connecticut State Department of Education (SDE). 

School Type:  A regional school district provides education for grades K-12 or some combination of such grades to residents of two or more municipalities.  The Municipal Benchmarking System identifies whether a municipality participates in a regional school district and the grades that the District provides education for.  In addition, some municipalities do not maintain their own high school and instead send their high school age students to either a high school within another municipality or to a private academy.  The Benchmarking System will identify such towns.  If a municipality does not participate in a regional school district or send its high school age students to a designated high school in another municipality or to a designated academy, it is identified as "Municipal K-12" in the Municipal Benchmarking System.  A list of municipalities and their school types are also provided. 

Resident State Trooper Program:  The Resident Trooper Program protects, maintains and enhances the quality of life for all in contracted communities by providing emergency response, policing services and proactive efforts in communities that do not employ full time police departments.  The Benchmarking System identifies whether a municipality participates in the Resident State Trooper Program.  The list of municipalities participating in the program is also provided.

Health Department (Map of):  A health district is a regional public health department formed by two or more municipalities to provide local public health services.  Municipalities that are members of such districts are identified in the Municipal Benchmarking System as a member of a "Multi-Town District".  A municipality that is not a member of a Multi-Town District provides its own public health department and health services for the residents of that municipality.  For such municipalities, the Municipal Benchmarking System identifies whether the municipality has either a full time or part time municipal director for the public health services it provides.  In addition to the Map provided, there is also a list of each municipality and their health department designation.

Public Safety Answering Points (Map of):  A “Regional PSAP” is responsible for 911 emergency telecommunications for 3 or more municipalities.  A “Multi-town PSAP” is responsible for 911 emergency telecommunications for two municipalities.  Municipalities that do not participate in a regional or multi-town PSAP are identified as "Municipal" in the Benchmarking System.  In addition to the Map provided, there is also a list of each municipality and their public safety answering point designation.