San Jose Taxpayers on the Hook for $41,800

Truth in Accounting released their annual report on the debt for America’s 10 largest cities. The City Combined Taxpayer Burden Report includes the city’s largest underlying government units, such as counties and school districts. With the exception of New York City, most municipalities do not include in their annual financial reports the finances of large, underlying government units for which city taxpayers are also responsible. When adding the Taxpayer Burden of these underlying government units with the city and state Taxpayer Burden, it is clear that the debt is much greater than what one would assume.

San Jose taxpayers have a combined Taxpayer Burden of $41,800. Included in this amount is the debt of the school districts and the state of California.

Unlike San Diego, San Jose taxpayers are not on the hook for public transit debts; besides the state, city, county, and school district debts, there is nothing San Jose residents must financially worry about. Santa Clara county accounts for a large portion of San Jose’s combined debt at $6,600 per taxpayer.

This report analyzes the fiscal health of the 10 most populous U.S. cities pre-COVID-19. In conclusion, Truth in Accounting’s analysis aims to help readers understand the implications of city, county, and underlying governmental units’ debt, which creates high levels of Taxpayer Burdens for individuals living within cities that need proper resources to function and stay afloat. Overall, this report highlights the financial struggles each city went into the pandemic with and we can assume the fiscal health of these cities worsened during the pandemic.

Anna D'Aprile is a Press and Communications Intern at Truth in Accounting