Who Cares About the City Budget?

I don't know about you, but I find it hard to digest and remember information when it's just a fact standing on its own. For example, the City of La Mesa's reserve fund is five percent of its operating budget. So what? Is that good or bad?

But if you tell me La Mesa has the smallest reserve fund of any of the 18 cities in the county, that puts it in context. And if you tell me the City of San Diego has the second smallest reserve fund in the county, I understand that it's in bad shape, but also that it isn't the worst in terms of how much money it's set aside for a rainy day.

That's what I aim to do by comparing cities here in San Diego County. Most of us are way too busy to keep track of our local government finances. Heck, it's hard enough to keep up with what Obama is doing this week. But I believe the financial health of our hometowns is important to our quality of life. Especially in times like these when budgets are being squeezed. It's in times of stress that you see the cracks.

So I'm embarking on a project to find ways to measure the health of our hometowns. It's a way to put the City of San Diego's well-publicized troubles in context. And half of our listeners don't live in the City of San Diego, so what about their hometowns?

If some of our cities start buckling under the strain of this economic downturn, what gives? Lots of companies go belly up. But what about a city? All those services we take for granted: trash pick up, road resurfacing, police patrols, libraries, parks, in some cases water supplies, depend on having a well managed city.

Everyone puts their budget together slightly differently. But there are some things we all have: savings, debts, income, expenditures. So let's take a look and see what we can learn by comparing how cities across the county are running things. Maybe we'll be able to hold them more accountable if we do!

Reporter Alison St John has covered San Diego's City Hall since 2003.