The chief of fiscal services for Piney Hills, North Carolina, has data on unreserved fund balances from 2006 through 2011. Unreserved fund balances are a key measure of financial performance because they reflect the capability of a government to keep spending under control and build up reserves for emergencies or revenue shortfalls.

In preparing financial data for an upcoming debt review by a major debt ratings agency, the chief asks you to present a summary table showing the annual rate of change in general fund balances. She also asks you to calculate the average annual rate of change in fund balances from 2006 through 2011. The end-of-fiscal-year data on fund balances (in millions of dollars) appear in the following table:

The chief feels that an average annual increase in fund balance of 5% for the time period in question would be very impressive. What can you tell the chief about her target goal?

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Year 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 General Fund Balance ($) 9,067 9,688 10,090 10,445 11,140 11,490 Percentage Change in Fund Balances