Notie Lansford, Jr.
Oklahoma State University
Dept. of Agricultural Economics
311 Ag Hall
Stillwater, OK 74078
(405) 744-6555, (405) 744-8210 fax

The purpose of the “financial trends” program is to provide a sufficiently in-depth review of a local government’s financial situation that local government officials and community leaders can make informed decisions. For example, the state jail inspector tells a board of county commissioners that the existing county jail must be remodeled and/or expanded. The commissioners need information regarding their financing options and, just as importantly, information to present to the voters. A county financial trends report provides a ten to fifteen year look at the various revenue and expenditure streams by fund, can compare the county to similarly sized counties, and discusses the options and legal limitations of funding.

This program is supported by a statewide county government database, a trend report template, and various Extension publications detailing the local government options for funding public services. The trend report itself consists of a narrative report in Microsoft Word and a visual report in PowerPoint. These reports are geared to presentation by a county or area Extension educator but are also suitable for presentation by a county official at a civic club meeting.

In Oklahoma, since 1991, 80 reports have been requested and presented. Since 1991, the voters in 40 counties have decided to add or amend a county sales tax to meet various needs. In most cases, a county financial trends report was one of the key educational tools used by county officials, community leaders and the voting public of the community service needs.

PowerPoint Presentation (PDF format, 242 kb)