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Simla · FY2021 municipal finance benchmarks

Elbert County · Eastern Plains · statutory town · Pop. 587 (2025 estimate); FY2021 per-resident figures use 615 · Census finance data FY2016, FY2021

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

City website (opens in a new tab)

Compare

FY2021 in brief

Simla collected $538 per resident (including city-run utilities), 78% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 66% below its peers.

  • Tax revenue per resident withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 23% of the peer median

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

Compared with

Nearest on population, household income and region

FY2021 headline figures

Revenue per resident (definition)

$538
66% below peers
Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
$1,566
CO median · 227 with a published figure
$2,476
Position
Higher than 1% of the 227 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars
−3.4%/yr
How Colorado compares on revenue per resident

Expenditures per resident (definition)

Includes city-owned utilities
Peer median
Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 220 with a published figure
$2,208
Position
Not reported for this year
5-year changenominal dollars
Withheld with this year's value

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

Peer median
Benchmark unavailable
CO median · 201 with a published figure
$1,072
Position
Not reported for this year
5-year changenominal dollars
Withheld with this year's value

How this number was calculated

Revenue per resident · $538
Reported by the city to the Census Bureau

  1. 1Metric

    $538 Total revenue divided by population

    = Total revenue ÷ population

    Full definition: Revenue per resident

  2. 2Inputs

    Total revenue $331K ÷ population 615 (2021 estimate)

  3. 3Census line items

    • A03 Commercial activities (other) charges
    • A80 Sewer charges
    • A81 Solid waste charges
    • A91 Water utility charges
    • C89 State aid
    • T01 Property tax
    • T09 General sales tax
    • T10 Selective sales taxes (lodging, utilities, etc.)
    • T24 Licenses & permits
    • U30 Fines & forfeits

  4. 4Source file

What the numbers mean

  • Simla runs city-owned utilities, which add 23.3% 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 615 residents, small changes in Simla's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.

Where the money comes from and where it goes

Per resident, FY2021. Bars show Simla; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

On the revenue side, the biggest difference from peers is Utility & transit charges: $125 per resident, 72% below the peer median.

Money in

Revenue

$538
per resident66% below peers
Money in: Simla revenue per resident by category, FY2021, against the peer median. Open a category for its lines and Census item codes.
CategoryPer residentvs peers
$20837% belowpeers $328
$12572% belowpeers $451
$6788% abovepeers $36
$1887% belowpeers $139
Withheldpeers $267
Withheldpeers $162
Withheldpeers $0
Peer median of 5 peers · Colorado median of 227 reporting

Money out

Spending

Categories are withheld with the total until it is verified against Simla’s audited financial report.

Peer median of 3 peers · Colorado median of 220 reporting

Simla 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, FY2021. How peers are chosen

Open in Compare
Simla compared with its peer municipalities, FY2021, per resident
MunicipalityRevenueExpendituresTax revenueSales taxDebt
SimlaUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 23.3% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$538Not reported for this year
StrattonUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 31.7% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$1,566$516$267$1,777
EadsUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 25.8% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$1,635$1,503$591$341$1,206
FlaglerUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 22.6% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$1,998$1,927$806$522$121
SwinkUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 40.2% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$1,049$1,133$252Not reported for this year$515
OtisUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 78.3% of total revenue in FY2021. Revenue and spending per resident include them, so cities that run their own utilities read higher than cities that don't.$771$167$69Not reported for this year
Peer median$1,566Benchmark unavailableBenchmark unavailableBenchmark unavailableNot 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
FY2016 $638 to FY2021 $538.$0$1.2K$2.5K’16’21Peer median FY2016: $1,158Peer median FY2021: $1,566Colorado median FY2016: $1,746 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $2,476 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $638FY2021: $538

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
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$638$1,158$1,746 (224 reporting)
FY2021$538$1,566$2,476 (227 reporting)
Tax revenue per resident
2 years withheld.$0$536$1.1K’16’21Colorado median FY2016: $705 (all 224 municipalities reporting)Colorado median FY2021: $1,072 (all 227 municipalities reporting)FY2016: withheld — Tax revenue per resident is 33% of the peer medianFY2021: withheld — Tax revenue per resident is 23% of the peer median

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

  • FY2016 withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 33% of the peer median
  • FY2021 withheld: Tax revenue per resident is 23% of the peer median
Show data table
Tax revenue per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016Withheld (Tax revenue per resident is 33% of the peer median)Benchmark unavailable$705 (193 reporting)
FY2021Withheld (Tax revenue per resident is 23% of the peer median)Benchmark unavailable$1,072 (201 reporting)
Debt per resident
FY2016 $176.$0$908.4$1.8K’16’21Peer median FY2016: $1,817Colorado median FY2016: $1,072 (all 224 municipalities reporting)FY2016: $176

Fiscal year · nominal dollars, not adjusted for inflation

Show data table
Debt per resident by fiscal year
YearThis cityPeer medianColorado median
FY2016$176$1,817$1,072 (220 reporting)
FY2021———

Questions about Simla’s finances

How much revenue does Simla collect per resident?
Simla collected $538 per resident in FY2021, 78% below the median of the 227 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
Which cities is Simla compared with?
Simla is compared with Stratton, Eads, Flagler, Swink and Otis: 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)
−1.8%/yr
2021 estimate
Median household income
$40K
2021 estimate
Poverty rate
12.0%
2021 estimate
Median home value
$168.2K
2021 estimate
Housing vacancy rate
16.1%
2021 estimate

Explore further

Also in Eastern Plains

Revenue per resident, latest published year.

Sources

Dataset: Simla, 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

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