Financial reporting consistently plays a major role in the lives of finance officers. In presenting to our respective boards or councils, conveying a compelling story is critical to information comprehension and building credibility. To communicate the entire story, we typically include core financial information as well as a wide breadth of accompanying metrics that provide context and insight. In addition to sharing the metrics that we use in South San Francisco below, I asked our fellow CSMFO members via the listserv to share the metrics that they use in their organizations to accompany their financial reports.

Metrics that Impact Property Tax

Like most cities, South San Francisco’s top revenue source is property tax. FY 2017-18 property tax revenues were $34 million, which was 28 percent of total General Fund revenues.

To supplement property tax revenue numbers, we include the trends below which are made available through the San Mateo County Association of Realtors (SAMCAR) at https://www.samcar.org/market-data.htm.

  • Median sales price for single family homes and condominiums
  • Average days on the market
  • Inventory
  • Number of sales

Metrics that Impact Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT)

The 30 hotels in South San Francisco generated TOT revenue of $14 million in FY 2017-18. As one of the top three revenue sources for the City, the metrics below serve as crucial bellwethers to monitor economic headwinds.

  • Passenger traffic for San Francisco International Airport (SFO), which is a few miles from South San Francisco. The information is available at https://www.flysfo.com/media/facts-statistics/air-traffic-statistics.
  • Average hotel room rate and occupancy rate. This information is available on the City’s TOT monthly remittance document and recorded in a database for historical analysis.

Metrics that Impact Permit Revenues

Residential and non-residential development is alive and well in South San Francisco. In FY 2017-18, permit revenues reached an all-time high of $14 million, which was 12 percent of total General Fund revenues.  To provide additional insight, we include the metrics below.

  • Average permit valuation
  • Number of permits issued

The City of Temecula includes the following economic trends in their quarterly financial report:

  • Unemployment rate at the national, state, regional, and local levels over a three-year period.
  • Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the year-over-year change in the price of goods and services purchased for consumption by urban households, comparing S. averages to the local region.

Unemployment and Consumer Price Index data is provided by the United States Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, available at https://www.bls.gov/data/.

  • Consumer Confidence Index (CCI)measures consumers’ outlook on the economy, where an index over 100 indicates a higher percentage of optimistic consumers versus those that are pessimistic. CCI is issued by The Conference Board, which is an independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. CCI historical data is available on a subscription basis at https://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerdata.cfm.

The cities of Temecula and Redwood City also include demographic information that is made available through the United States Census Bureau, such as median age, average household income, number of registered voters, median home price, and the number of jobs. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045217#PST045217.

If you have data that you use in telling your financial story that is not mentioned above, please contact me at richard.lee@ssf.net or via a CSMFO website message.

A very special thank you to the contributors for this article:

Jennifer Hennessy, Director of Finance, City of Temecula

Susan Giangrande, Budget Manager, City of Newport Beach

Derek Rampone, Finance Manager, City of Redwood City

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About the Author:

Richard Lee’s career in municipal finance spans 13 years, serving various communities in the San Francisco Peninsula. Since 2015, he has served as the Director of Finance for the City of South San Francisco. Richard was elected to the CSMFO Board of Directors in 2018, after previously serving as Chair of the Peninsula Chapter and Vice Chair of the Career Development Committee.

In his spare time, Richard is a freelance musician, and has performed with various groups/artists such as the San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Disney’s The Lion King musical, Barbra Streisand, Peter Cetera, Kenny Loggins and Gladys Knight. His secret ambition is to be the first local government CFO to win a Grammy.