Municipal Finance Archives - Worcester Regional Research Bureau

Our reports on municipal finance track Worcester’s revenues and expenditures and its financial condition on a yearly basis, sometimes offering recommendations for increasing revenues and decreasing expenditures.

Jun 28, 2016

Breaking Down the Budget: Questions to Consider, City of Worcester & Worcester Public Schools FY2017

The Research Bureau offers its annual Breaking Down the Budget: Questions to Consider – a summary and analysis of the City of Worcester and Worcester Public Schools Fiscal Year 2017 Budgets, which go into effect on July 1, 2016.

Sep 08, 2015

Breaking Down the Budget: Questions to Consider, City of Worcester & Worcester Public Schools FY16

Each July 1, the City of Worcester and Worcester Public Schools begin a new fiscal year. Who sets the priorities and how is the budget developed? How much money are we really talking? Read Breaking Down the Budget: Questions to Consider to improve your understanding of the City’s FY16 budget.

Apr 23, 2015

Bureau Brief—Worcester’s Unfunded OPEB Liability

The City of Worcester, like most municipalities, has struggled with outstanding pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) liabilities. While the City is engaged on a plan to fund its pension obligations by 2032, there is no plan in place to address the more than $727 million owed for OPEB, which mainly consists of retiree health care costs.

Jun 01, 2014

Breaking Down the Budget: Questions to Consider, City of Worcester & Worcester Public Schools FY15

Each July 1, the City of Worcester and Worcester Public Schools begin a new fiscal year. Who sets the priorities and how is the budget developed?

Jun 01, 2013

Worcester’s FY14 Budget: Making Ends Meet

This report looks at Worcester’s FY14 budget of $563 million and suggest how Worcester can continue to balance its budget while facing increasing school, healthcare, and pension system costs.

Apr 01, 2013

A Prescription for Retiree Health Care: How Worcester can vanquish its OPEB liability while keeping its workforce happy and healthy

This report addresses a crisis local governments are facing across the nation: how to pay for OPEB – “other post-employment benefits” that were promised to retirees in better fiscal times.

Jun 01, 2012

Worcester’s FY13 Budget: Post-Recession Observations

This report offers a number of observations on Worcester’s FY13 municipal budget of $542 million.

Jun 07, 2011

10 Questions about Worcester’s FY12 Budget

In an effort to explain the major fiscal challenges that Worcester and every other community in the Commonwealth faces in FY12, and how they have been addressed, The Research Bureau presents answers to ten key questions about the City’s budget.

Jan 27, 2011

Worcester’s Bond Rating and the Recession: What’s the City’s Credit Score?

How is a bond rating for a municipality determined? Have Worcester’s borrowing costs gone up or down in the current volatile municipal bond market?