Parachute · FY2016 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Garfield County · Western Slope · home rule municipality · Pop. 1,366 (2025 estimate); FY2016 per-resident figures use 1,112 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

You’re viewing FY2016. See the latest view (FY2021). Latest Census Bureau finance data for Parachute: 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

Parachute collected $2,763 per resident (including city-run utilities), 58% above the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 16% above its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 19% above its peers, and 83% above the state median. Debt per resident runs 51% below peers.

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 1.6× the Colorado 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)

$2,763

16% above peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $2,373
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 73% 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)

$2,401

24% above peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $1,940
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 64% of the 196 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$1,290

19% above peers

Peer median: $1,082
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 79% of the 193 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Debt per resident (definition)

$408

51% below peers

Peer median: $829
CO median · 220 with a published figure Median of the 220 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.: $1,072
Position: Higher than 29% of the 220 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

How Colorado compares on debt per resident

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $2,763

Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

1Metric
$2,763 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $3.1M ÷ population 1,112 (2016 estimate)
3Census line items
- A80 Sewer charges
- A81 Solid waste charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- B46 Federal aid
- C30 State aid
- C79 State aid
- C89 State aid
- D46 Local government aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T20 Licenses & permits
- T24 Licenses & permits
- T27 Licenses & permits
- T28 Licenses & permits
- T29 Licenses & permits
- U20 Interest earnings
- U30 Fines & forfeits
- U40 Rents
- U41 Royalties
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

Parachute runs city-owned utilities, which add 12.3% 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 1,112 residents, small changes in Parachute's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

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

Regional hub: sales tax per resident is 1.6× the Colorado median.

Sales tax per resident is high, which usually means many non-residents shop, stay or work here. Per-resident figures divide citywide totals by residents only, so they overstate what residents themselves pay and use.

The biggest difference from peers is Public safety: $600 per resident, 2.2× the peer median. On the revenue side, intergovernmental is 3.2× peers.

Money in

Revenue

$2,763

per resident16% above peers

Money in: Parachute 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
	$912	$691	32% above peerspeers $691	33%

General sales tax $912 · peers $691 General sales and use tax. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$779	$244	3.2× peerspeers $244	28%

Federal aid $718 · peers $0 State aid $41 · peers $189 Local government aid $20 · peers $28 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Census line items B46 Federal aid C30 State aid C79 State aid C89 State aid D46 Local government aid
	$341	$461	26% below peerspeers $461	12%

Water utility charges $341 · peers $413 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$317	$250	27% above peerspeers $250	11%

Property tax $317 · peers $250 Property tax levied by the municipality. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$273	$451	39% below peerspeers $451	10%

Sewer charges $218 · peers $285 Solid waste charges $56 · peers $123 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Census line items A80 Sewer charges A81 Solid waste charges
	$79	$73	8% above peerspeers $73	3%

Fines & forfeits $43 · peers $9 Royalties $19 · peers $0 Interest earnings $13 · peers $7 Rents $5 · peers $8 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Census line items U20 Interest earnings U30 Fines & forfeits U40 Rents U41 Royalties
	$62	$142	56% below peerspeers $142	2%

Licenses & permits $62 · peers $58 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Census line items T20 Licenses & permits T24 Licenses & permits T27 Licenses & permits T28 Licenses & permits T29 Licenses & permits

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 224 reporting

Money out

Spending

$2,401

per resident24% above peers

Money out: Parachute 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
	$721	$437	65% above peerspeers $437	30%

Financial administration $602 · peers $71 Judicial & legal $58 · peers $7 General public buildings $47 · peers $12 General government (other) $14 · peers $67 Administration, finance, legal and courts, public buildings and other general government. Census line items E23 Financial administration E25 Judicial & legal E31 General public buildings E89 General government (other)
	$680	$754	10% below peerspeers $754	28%

Water utility $408 · peers $265 incl. $84 construction Sewer $219 · peers $293 incl. $25 construction Solid waste $53 · peers $151 incl. $109 construction Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Census line items E80 Sewer E81 Solid waste E91 Water utility F80 Sewer F91 Water utility G80 Sewer G91 Water utility
	$600	$268	2.2× peerspeers $268	25%

Police $455 · peers $268 incl. $21 construction Protective inspection & regulation $145 · peers $0 incl. $21 construction Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Census line items E62 Police E66 Protective inspection & regulation F62 Police G62 Police
	$250	$165	52% above peerspeers $165	10%

Streets & highways $250 · peers $165 incl. $5 construction incl. $5 construction Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports. Census line items E44 Streets & highways G44 Streets & highways
	$131	$54	2.4× peerspeers $54	5%

Parks & recreation $131 · peers $54 Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Census line items E61 Parks & recreation
	$19	$44	57% below peerspeers $44	1%

Interest on debt $19 · peers $44 Interest paid on the municipality's debt. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items I89 Interest on debt

Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 196 reporting

Parachute 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

Parachute compared with its peer municipalities, FY2016, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
ParachuteUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 12.3% 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.Regional hub: Sales tax per resident is 1.6× the Colorado median.	$2,763	$2,401	$1,290	$912	$408
RidgwayUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 14.8% 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.	$2,373	$1,940	$1,352	$779	$775
PaoniaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 51.4% 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.	$2,331	$1,355	$514	$332	$1,439
OurayUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 8.6% 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.Regional hub: Sales tax per resident is 1.7× the Colorado median.	$4,466	$4,555	$1,809	$932	$767
Oak CreekUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 37.0% 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.	$3,543	$1,923	Withheld Oak Creek · Tax revenue per resident · FY2016 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 11% 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 Oak Creek · Sales tax per resident · FY2016 Reason: Sales tax per resident is 8% 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.	$2,165
HotchkissUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 25.5% 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.	$1,807	$2,307	$813	$602	$829
Peer median	$2,373	$1,940	$1,082	$691	$829

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

Regional hub marks a municipality whose sales tax per resident is at least 1.5× the Colorado median: a shopping or visitor hub where people who live elsewhere pay much of the sales tax.

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

Peer group changed in FY2021. Peers are matched each year, so the peer median can step when the group changes.

Show data table

Revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$2,763	$2,373	$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021	$3,247	$3,618	$2,476 (227 reporting)

Expenditures per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

FY2021 withheld: Expenditures per resident is 33% of the peer median

Show data table

Expenditures per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$2,401	$1,940	$1,749 (196 reporting)
FY2021	Withheld (Expenditures per resident is 33% of the peer median)	Benchmark unavailable	$2,208 (220 reporting)

Tax revenue per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021. Peers are matched each year, so the peer median can step when the group changes.

Show data table

Tax revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$1,290	$1,082	$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021	$2,053	$2,053	$1,072 (201 reporting)

Debt per resident

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Peer group changed in FY2021. Peers are matched each year, so the peer median can step when the group changes.

Show data table

Debt per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$408	$829	$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021	$175	$2,006	$1,411 (199 reporting)

Questions about Parachute’s finances

How much revenue does Parachute collect per resident?: Parachute collected $2,763 per resident in FY2016, 58% above the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Parachute's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Parachute spent $2,401 per resident in FY2016, 24% above the median of its peers: Ridgway, Paonia, Ouray, Oak Creek and Hotchkiss. See the figure
How much debt does Parachute have per resident?: Parachute carried $408 of debt per resident in FY2016, 51% below its peers' median. See the figure
Which cities is Parachute compared with?: Parachute is compared with Ridgway, Paonia, Ouray, Oak Creek and Hotchkiss: 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): +0.8%/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 Western Slope

Ridgway$3,618 · FY2021
Paonia$2,448 · FY2021
Hotchkiss$2,602 · FY2021
Ouray$10,701 · FY2021
Olathe$1,276 · FY2021
Nucla$1,311 · FY2021
Naturita$2,797 · FY2021
De Beque

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: Parachute, 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

Public safety is Parachute’s largest difference from its peers (2.2× the peer median in FY2016). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.

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

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Parachute · 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

Parachute and its peers

Trends

Questions about Parachute’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Western Slope

Sources

Public safety is Parachute’s largest difference from its peers (2.2× the peer median in FY2016). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.