Fowler · FY2016 municipal finance benchmarks

Name: Fowler, CO municipal finance benchmarks
Creator: Orivian
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Otero County · Eastern Plains · statutory town · Pop. 1,171 (2025 estimate); FY2016 per-resident figures use 1,149 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Fowler: FY2021. Retrieved Oct 2026. Newer years are added when the Census Bureau publishes them. Why the lag?

City website (opens in a new tab)

Fiscal yearCompare

FY2016 in brief

Fowler collected $946 per resident (including city-run utilities), 46% below the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. Tax revenue per resident sits 15% above its peers, but 51% below the state median.

Generated from the figures below. Every number links to its Census source.

Compared with

Nearest on population, household income and region

Revenue per resident (definition)

$946

44% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $1,693
CO median · 224 with a published figure Median of the 224 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,746
Position: Higher than 19% of the 224 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

$1,196

32% below CO median

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 196 with a published figure Median of the 196 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,749
Position: Higher than 28% of the 196 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$344

15% above peers

Peer median: $298
CO median · 193 with a published figure Median of the 193 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 and FY2021 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $705
Position: Higher than 23% of the 193 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Debt per resident (definition)

Peer median: Not reported for this year
CO median: Not reported for this year
Position: Not reported for this year
5-year change: Not reported for this year

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $946

Includes Census estimates for 100% of revenue

1Metric
$946 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $1.1M ÷ population 1,149 (2016 estimate)
3Census line items
- A03 Commercial activities (other) charges
- A61 Parks & recreation charges
- A80 Sewer charges
- A81 Solid waste charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- D46 Local government aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T16 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
- T20 Licenses & permits
- T28 Licenses & permits
- T29 Licenses & permits
- T99 Other taxes
- U20 Interest earnings
- U30 Fines & forfeits
4Source file
- Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File
  Value for
  FY2016
  Survey file
  2017
  The 2017 Census survey covers fiscal years ending July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017, so a fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 is FY2016.
  Retrieved October 12, 2026 · View source: Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File (opens in a new tab)
- Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - incorporated places
  Value for
  FY2016
  Source year
  2020
  Retrieved October 7, 2026 · View source: Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - incorporated places (opens in a new tab)

What the numbers mean

Fowler runs city-owned utilities, which add 30.5% of its revenue. Cities that don't run utilities will look lower on revenue and spending per resident for that reason alone. What counts as utility revenue
With about 1,149 residents, small changes in Fowler's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.
Part of Fowler's FY2016 revenue is a Census Bureau estimate, not a reported figure. How estimates are handled

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Per resident, FY2016. Bars show Fowler; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

On the revenue side, the biggest difference from peers is Utility & transit charges: $288 per resident, 61% below the peer median.

Money in

Revenue

$946

per resident44% below peers

Money in: Fowler revenue per resident by category, FY2016, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
Category	Per resident	Peer median	vs peers	Share of revenue
	$288	$734	61% below peerspeers $734	30%

Water utility charges $288 · peers $242 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$233	$296	21% below peerspeers $296	25%

Sewer charges $153 · peers $181 Solid waste charges $45 · peers $104 Commercial activities (other) charges $18 · peers $0 Parks & recreation charges $17 · peers $3 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items A03 Commercial activities (other) charges A61 Parks & recreation charges A80 Sewer charges A81 Solid waste charges
	$205	$111	85% above peerspeers $111	22%

General sales tax $205 · peers $111 General sales and use tax. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$73	$113	35% below peerspeers $113	8%

Property tax $73 · peers $113 Property tax levied by the municipality. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$65	$35	88% above peerspeers $35	7%

Other taxes $52 · peers $0 Licenses & permits $12 · peers $15 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) $1 · peers $13 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T16 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.) T20 Licenses & permits T28 Licenses & permits T29 Licenses & permits T99 Other taxes
	$43	$148	71% below peerspeers $148	5%

Fines & forfeits $37 · peers $4 Interest earnings $6 · peers $4 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits
	$38	$80	52% below peerspeers $80	4%

Local government aid $38 · peers $21 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items D46 Local government aid

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 224 reporting

Money out

Spending

$1,196

per resident

Money out: Fowler spending per resident by category, FY2016, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
Category	Per resident	Peer median	vs peers	Share of spending
Peer median unavailable	$477	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	40%

Housing & community development $426 incl. $426 construction Parks & recreation $50 incl. $426 construction Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E61 Parks & recreation F50 Housing & community development
Peer median unavailable	$211	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	18%

Central staff services $124 incl. $1 construction Financial administration $84 Judicial & legal $3 incl. $1 construction Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E23 Financial administration E25 Judicial & legal E29 Central staff services G29 Central staff services
Peer median unavailable	$199	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	17%

Water utility $158 Solid waste $26 Sewer $16 Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E80 Sewer E81 Solid waste E91 Water utility
Peer median unavailable	$188	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	16%

Streets & highways $188 Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E44 Streets & highways
Peer median unavailable	$120	Peer median unavailable	No peer comparison	10%

Police $120 Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E62 Police M62 Police
None reported	$0	Peer median unavailable	None reported	0%

Fowler reported nothing in this category for FY2016. Health, hospitals and public welfare.
None reported	$0	Peer median unavailable	None reported	0%

Fowler reported nothing in this category for FY2016. Interest paid on the municipality's debt.
None reported	$0	Peer median unavailable	None reported	0%

Fowler reported nothing in this category for FY2016. Commercial activities and functions outside the categories above.

Peer median of 2 peers · Colorado median of 196 reporting

Fowler and its peers

The five Colorado municipalities nearest on population, median household income and region. Budget size isn’t a matching factor, so peers aren’t chosen on the figures being compared. Per resident, FY2016. How peers are chosen

Open in Compare

Fowler compared with its peer municipalities, FY2016, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
FowlerUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 30.5% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$946	$1,196	$344	$205	Not reported for this year
SpringfieldUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 60.3% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$2,503	$2,186	$369	$232	$247
OrdwayUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 23.2% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$927	Withheld Ordway · Expenditures per resident · FY2016 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 15% of the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	Withheld Ordway · Tax revenue per resident · FY2016 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 29% of the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	Not reported for this year	$174
JulesburgUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 42.9% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$2,377	Withheld Julesburg · Expenditures per resident · FY2016 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 30% of the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$298	Withheld Julesburg · Sales tax per resident · FY2016 Reason: Sales tax per resident is 12% of the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$1,173
Log Lane VillageUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 44.6% of total revenue in FY2016. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.	$1,008	Withheld Log Lane Village · Expenditures per resident · FY2016 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 13% of the peer median We don't publish figures that fail our quality checks until they're verified against the city's audited financial report.	$270	$111	Not reported for this year
Peer median	$1,693	Benchmark unavailable	$298	Benchmark unavailable	Not reported for this year

Utilities marks a municipality whose revenue and spending include city-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit), which raises its per-resident totals.

Trends

Every available fiscal year. Lines break where a year is missing or withheld; nothing is interpolated.

This city
Peer median
Withheld (shown on the axis, no value)
Colorado median (Census of Governments years only)

Revenue per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

FY2021 withheld: Revenue per resident is 23% of the peer median

Show data table

Revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$946	$1,693	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	Withheld (Revenue per resident is 23% of the peer median)	Benchmark unavailable	$2,476 (227 reporting)

Expenditures per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Show data table

Expenditures per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$1,196	Benchmark unavailable	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	$4,036	$2,610	$2,208 (220 reporting)

Tax revenue per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Show data table

Tax revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$344	$298	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	—	—	—

Debt per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Show data table

Debt per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	—	—	—
FY2021	$46	$163	$1,411 (199 reporting)

Questions about Fowler’s finances

How much revenue does Fowler collect per resident?: Fowler collected $946 per resident in FY2016, 46% below the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Fowler's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Fowler spent $1,196 per resident in FY2016, 32% below the Colorado median. There was no peer group to compare with that year. See the figure
Which cities is Fowler compared with?: Fowler is compared with Springfield, Ordway, Julesburg and Log Lane Village: the Colorado municipalities nearest to it on population, median household income and region. Budget size isn't used, so peers aren't chosen on the figures being compared. See the peer table
Where do these numbers come from?: From the U.S. Census Bureau's Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances, as each government reported its own fiscal year, divided by Census population estimates. Figures that fail quality checks are withheld rather than shown. Sources and methodology

Community context

American Community Survey 5-year estimates and Census population estimates. Where the selected year isn’t available, the nearest earlier year is shown and labeled.

Population growth (5-yr): −0.7%/yr; 2016 estimate
Median household income: Not reported for this year
Poverty rate: Not reported for this year
Median home value: Not reported for this year
Housing vacancy rate: Not reported for this year

Explore further

Also in Eastern Plains

Julesburg$2,487 · FY2021
Ordway$1,343 · FY2021
Springfield$3,103 · FY2021
Haxtun$14,085 · FY2021
Log Lane Village$2,366 · FY2021
Holly$2,746 · FY2021
Hugo$1,619 · FY2016
Kiowa$733 · FY2021

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File · 2017 survey file
U.S. Census Bureau
Retrieved October 12, 2026View source: Annual Survey of State & Local Government Finances 2017 - Individual Unit File (opens in a new tab)
Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - incorporated places · 2020
U.S. Census Bureau
Retrieved October 7, 2026View source: Population Estimates Program, Vintage 2020 - incorporated places (opens in a new tab)

Dataset: Fowler, CO municipal finance benchmarks

Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (opens in a new tab). Please credit “Source: Orivian Municipal Index, orivian.ai/benchmarks”. See the data use terms.

Notes: dollars are nominal (not inflation-adjusted). Colorado medians cover the municipalities reporting that year. Peers: nearest on population, income and region. Definitions: orivian.ai/benchmarks/methodology.Retrieved October 12, 2026 from orivian.ai/benchmarks.

Every figure on this page is read from the published index; nothing is recalculated for display. Read the methodology

Work for Fowler? See this kind of answer for your monthly numbers.

Orivian applies the same sourced, governed approach to your city's own budget-vs-actual data.

See how it works Talk to us

Fowler · FY2016 municipal finance benchmarks

FY2016 in brief

FY2016 headline figures

Revenue per resident (definition)

Expenditures per resident (definition)

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

Debt per resident (definition)

How this number was calculated

What the numbers mean

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Money in

Money out

Fowler and its peers

Trends

Questions about Fowler’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Eastern Plains

Sources

Work for Fowler? See this kind of answer for your monthly numbers.