Fairfax County
Taxpayer's Alliance

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Budget Efficiency by State

Budget Efficiency by State

-- by David Swink, FCTA, 06/30/2014

FCTA has been appalled by the cost of government at both the Virginia and Fairfax County levels. To put this in perspective at the state level, we decided to get from Wikipedia the declared budgets for each of the 50 states, divided by that state's population, to get the amount spent by the state per resident, to get a rough idea of how efficiently each state provides government services.

Obviously, states with very small populations (eg - Alaska, North Dakota) are at a disadvantage here, as a certain level of overhead cost is required to implement the most basic level of government services. Geography and the state's climate also are considerations. But more generally, the states vary widely in how they "spread the load" to their local jurisdictions. Nevertheless, the approach is sound and is a start towards the states' tax burdens; just be aware that there are those other factors to consider.

Check the following table to see how Virginia compares with other states. (For states with biannual budgets, the resulting annual cost is considered as half the declared budget.)

 State           2013 Pop.  Budget($B)  FY  Cost/Yr/Person
 Alabama         4,833,722   28.10    2014       $5,813
 Alaska            735,132   12.80    2014      $17,412
 Arizona         6,626,624   39.60    2014-15    $2,988
 Arkansas        2,959,373   26.90    2014       $9,090
 California     38,332,521  145.80    2014       $3,804
 Colorado        5,268,367   21.70    2014       $4,119
 Connecticut     3,596,080   19.00    2014-15    $2,642
 Delaware          925,749    3.80    2014       $4,105
 Florida        19,552,860   74.20    2013-14    $1,897
 Georgia         9,992,167   19.90    2014       $1,992
 Hawaii          1,404,054   23.90    2014-15    $8,511
 Idaho           1,612,136    7.30    2014       $4,528
 Illinois       12,882,135   62.40    2014       $4,844
 Indiana         6,570,902   57.70    2014-15    $4,391
 Iowa            3,090,416   15.50    2014-15    $2,508
 Kansas          2,893,957   14.40    2014       $4,979
 Kentucky        4,395,295   62.30    2012-14    $7,087
 Louisiana       4,625,470   28.10    2013-14    $3,038
 Maine           1,328,302    7.80    2014-15    $2,936
 Maryland        5,928,814   37.30    2014       $6,291
 Massachusetts   6,692,824   34.80    2014       $5,200
 Michigan        9,895,622  104.80    2014-15    $5,295
 Minnesota       5,420,380   66.26    2014-15    $6,112
 Mississippi     2,991,207    5.80    2014       $1,939
 Missouri        6,044,171   25.70    2014       $4,252
 Montana         1,015,165    4.30    2014-15    $2,118
 Nebraska        1,868,516   18.90    2014-15    $5,057
 Nevada          2,790,136   20.20    2014-15    $3,620
 New Hampshire   1,323,459   11.10    2014-15    $4,194
 New Jersey      8,899,339   32.90    2014       $3,697
 New Mexico      2,085,287    5.90    2014       $2,829
 New York       19,651,127  136.50    2014       $6,946
 North Carolina  9,848,060   41.90    2014-15    $2,127
 North Dakota      723,393   12.80    2014-15    $8,847
 Ohio           11,570,808  130.50    2014-15    $5,639
 Oklahoma        3,850,568    6.90    2014       $1,792
 Oregon          3,930,065   60.20    2014-15    $7,659
 Pennsylvania   12,773,801   29.40    2014       $2,302
 Rhode Island    1,051,511    8.20    2014       $7,798
 South Carolina  4,774,839   22.60    2014       $4,733
 South Dakota      844,877    4.11    2014       $4,865
 Tennessee       6,495,978   32.60    2014       $5,018
 Texas          26,448,193   99.30    2014-15    $1,877
 Utah            2,900,872   12.80    2014       $4,412
 Vermont           626,630    5.30    2014       $8,458
 Virginia        8,260,405   85.80    2013-14    $5,193
 Washington      6,971,406   74.80    2014-15    $3,486
 West Virginia   1,854,304    4.60    2014       $2,481
 Wisconsin       5,742,713   68.00    2014-15    $5,921
 Wyoming           582,658    5.60    2013-14    $4,806