You are a new city council person for the City of Columbia, Missouri. You are aware that several cities have been in the news recently because of the financial crises they have faced. The governing bodies have been criticized for not being aware of the negative signals and trends that obviously contributed to challenging financial situations. Although you were assured at the first few council meetings that the city was overall in good financial shape, you want to be sure you “do your homework” and assess the financial condition of the city for yourself. You know that the City of Columbia prepares a Financial Trends report each year based on the ICMA’s Financial Trends Monitoring System and that it posts this on its website at www.como.gov/finance/accounting/financial-reports/.

Required
a. Go to the city’s website and view the most recent copy of the Financial Trends report. Examine the trend information and make a list of any indicators that are negative.
b. Prepare a list of questions for the next city council meeting. Your questions should help you focus on whether you and the other council members should be concerned about any trends.