Ward · FY2016 municipal finance benchmarks

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

Boulder County · Denver Metro · home rule municipality · Pop. 124 (2025 estimate); FY2016 per-resident figures use 158 · Census finance data FY2016

Latest Census Bureau finance data for Ward: FY2016. Retrieved Oct 2026. Newer years are added when the Census Bureau publishes them. Why the lag?

City website (opens in a new tab)

Compare

FY2016 in brief

Ward collected $481 per resident (including city-run utilities), 72% below the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year, 50% below its peers. Tax revenue per resident sits 33% above its peers, but 79% 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)

$481

50% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $964
CO median · 224 with a published figure Median of the 224 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,746
Position: Higher than 2% 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)

$329

57% below peers

Includes city-owned utilities

Peer median: $767
CO median · 196 with a published figure Median of the 196 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $1,749
Position: Higher than 4% of the 196 reporting
5-year changenominal dollars: Not enough history for a 5-year change

Tax revenue per resident (definition)

$146

33% above peers

Peer median: $109
CO median · 193 with a published figure Median of the 193 Colorado municipalities with FY2016 Census finance data. In FY2016 the Census covers every municipality; in other years it surveys a sample, mostly larger cities.: $705
Position: Higher than 12% 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 · $481

Includes Census estimates for 100% of revenue

1Metric
$481 Total revenue divided by population
= Total revenue ÷ population
Full definition: Revenue per resident
2Inputs
Total revenue $76K ÷ population 158 (2016 estimate)
3Census line items
- A89 General government (other) charges
- A91 Water utility charges
- B89 Federal aid
- C46 State aid
- T01 Property tax
- T09 General sales tax
- T27 Licenses & permits
- U40 Rents
- U99 Miscellaneous
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

Ward runs city-owned utilities, which add 36.8% 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 158 residents, small changes in Ward's budget move per-resident figures a lot. Compare several years, not one.
Part of Ward'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 Ward; the gold tick is the peer median. How categories work

The biggest difference from peers is Utilities & environment: $108 per resident, 60% below the peer median. On the revenue side, fees & charges is 97% below peers.

Money in

Revenue

$481

per resident50% below peers

Money in: Ward 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
	$177	$192	8% below peerspeers $192	37%

Water utility charges $177 · peers $192 Revenue of city-owned water, electric, gas and transit systems. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items A91 Water utility charges
	$95	$231	59% below peerspeers $231	20%

State aid $57 · peers $231 Federal aid $38 · peers $0 Grants and shared revenue from federal, state and local governments. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items B89 Federal aid C46 State aid
	$82	$0	No peer comparisonpeers $0	17%

General sales tax $82 · peers $0 General sales and use tax. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T09 General sales tax
	$51	$42	22% above peerspeers $42	11%

Miscellaneous $44 · peers $28 Rents $6 · peers $0 Interest earnings, fines, rents, special assessments, donations and sales of property. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items U40 Rents U99 Miscellaneous
	$38	$109	65% below peerspeers $109	8%

Property tax $38 · peers $109 Property tax levied by the municipality. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T01 Property tax
	$25	$0	No peer comparisonpeers $0	5%

Licenses & permits $25 · peers $0 Lodging, utility, tobacco and other selective sales taxes, licenses and permits, and other taxes. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items T27 Licenses & permits
	$13	$364	97% below peerspeers $364	3%

General government (other) charges $13 · peers $66 Charges for services such as sewer, trash, recreation, parking and airports. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items A89 General government (other) charges

Peer median of 4 peers · Colorado median of 224 reporting

Money out

Spending

$329

per resident57% below peers

Money out: Ward 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
	$158	$267	41% below peerspeers $267	48%

Central staff services $51 · peers $27 General government (other) $44 · peers $69 Financial administration $44 · peers $27 Judicial & legal $19 · peers $0 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 E89 General government (other)
	$108	$267	60% below peerspeers $267	33%

Water utility $70 · peers $129 Solid waste $25 · peers $0 Electric utility $6 · peers $0 Gas utility $6 · peers $0 Water, sewer, solid waste, electric and gas utilities, and natural resources. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E81 Solid waste E91 Water utility E92 Electric utility E93 Gas utility
	$51	$9	5.9× peerspeers $9	15%

Corrections (other) $32 · peers $0 Police $13 · peers $0 incl. $6 construction Fire protection $6 · peers $0 incl. $6 construction Police, fire protection, inspection and corrections. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E05 Corrections (other) E24 Fire protection E62 Police G62 Police
	$13	$43	71% below peerspeers $43	4%

Parks & recreation $6 · peers $43 Libraries $6 · peers $0 Parks and recreation, libraries, housing and community development. Includes Census Bureau estimates for this year. Census line items E52 Libraries E61 Parks & recreation
None reported · peers $69	$0	$69	None reported	0%

Ward reported nothing in this category for FY2016. Streets and highways, transit, parking and airports.
None reported · peers $38	$0	$38	None reported	0%

Ward reported nothing in this category for FY2016. Interest paid on the municipality's debt.

Peer median of 3 peers · Colorado median of 196 reporting

Ward 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

Ward compared with its peer municipalities, FY2016, per resident
Municipality	Revenue	Expenditures	Tax revenue	Sales tax	Debt
WardUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 36.8% 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.	$481	$329	$146	$82	Not reported for this year
GroverUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 25.6% 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.	$975	$1,119	$63	Not reported for this year	$1,719
JamestownUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 23.1% 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.	$718	$664	$181	Not reported for this year	$189
Cokedale	$1,345	$767	Withheld Cokedale · Tax revenue per resident · FY2016 Reason: Tax revenue per resident is 4.1x 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	$5,293
RamahUtilities: City-owned utilities (water, electric, gas, transit) brought in 23.0% 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.	$953	Withheld Ramah · Expenditures per resident · FY2016 Reason: Expenditures per resident is 24% 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.	$109	Not reported for this year	$180
Peer median	$964	$767	$109	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

Show data table

Revenue per resident by fiscal year
Year	This city	Peer median	Colorado median
FY2016	$481	$964	$1,746 (224 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	$329	$767	$1,749 (196 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	$146	$109	$705 (193 reporting)

Questions about Ward’s finances

How much revenue does Ward collect per resident?: Ward collected $481 per resident in FY2016, 72% below the median of the 224 Colorado municipalities reporting that year. See the figure
How does Ward's spending per resident compare with similar cities?: Ward spent $329 per resident in FY2016, 57% below the median of its peers: Grover, Jamestown, Cokedale and Ramah. See the figure
Which cities is Ward compared with?: Ward is compared with Grover, Jamestown, Cokedale and Ramah: 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 Denver Metro

Larkspur
Lakeside
Jamestown$718 · FY2016
Morrison
Mountain View$937 · FY2016
Foxfield$1,354 · FY2021
Bow Mar$1,771 · FY2022
Nederland$3,649 · 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: Ward, 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

Utilities & environment is Ward’s largest difference from its peers (60% below 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.

See how it works Talk to us

Ward · 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

Ward and its peers

Trends

Questions about Ward’s finances

Community context

Explore further

Also in Denver Metro

Sources

Utilities & environment is Ward’s largest difference from its peers (60% below the peer median in FY2016). See how that line moves month to month in your own budget-vs-actual.