Budget Explorer · City of Tallahassee

Where the money comes from, and where it goes

Comparable revenue, spending, and debt for City of Tallahassee, on the same Census classification used for every city, county, and state in the Library — so the figures line up with peers rather than with the government's own budget book. Latest year: FY ending Sep 30, 2023.

Audited actuals · Census classification · 202K residents

Total revenue

$913M

$4,527 per resident

Total spending

$1.08B

$5,339 per resident

Spending per resident

$5,339

73rd percentile of 71

Debt outstanding

$862M

$4,274 per resident · 55th percentile of 70

Own-source share

68%

19th percentile of 71

Capital share

9%

15th percentile of 71

Where the money comes from

$913M total

Own-source revenue (taxes, charges, interest) versus aid from other governments. Utility and trust revenue are shown alongside general revenue but run on their own books.

  • Property tax$58M6%
  • Selective sales taxes$26M3%
  • License & other taxes$2.3M0%
  • Federal aid$54M6%
  • State & local aid$113M12%
  • Charges & fees$216M24%
  • Interest, fines, other$47M5%
  • Utility revenue$397M43%

Own-source share of general revenue 68% · federal aid 11% · property tax is 68% of taxes

Where it goes

$1.08B total

Current operations plus capital outlay, grouped by Census function. Interest on debt and transfers to other governments are broken out so they are not hidden inside services.

  • Utilities (water, power, gas)$354M33%
  • General government$205M19%
  • Environment & housing$160M15%
  • Transportation$155M14%
  • Public safety$138M13%
  • Interest on debt$37M3%
  • Culture & recreation$29M3%
Show top functions with operating vs. capital ▸
FunctionCategoryOperatingCapitalTotal
Electric utilityUtilities (water, power, gas)$260M$19M$279M
Financial administrationGeneral government$149M$251K$149M
SewerageEnvironment & housing$68M$20M$88M
Police protectionPublic safety$78M$772K$79M
HighwaysTransportation$71M$6.9M$78M
Fire protectionPublic safety$53M$915K$54M
Water utilityUtilities (water, power, gas)$39M$8.6M$48M
Air transportationTransportation$22M$20M$42M
General (unallocable)General government$30M$12M$42M
TransitTransportation$31M$3.7M$35M
Solid waste managementEnvironment & housing$32M$325K$33M
Parks & recreationCulture & recreation$29M$51K$29M
Natural resourcesEnvironment & housing$28M$660K$29M
Gas utilityUtilities (water, power, gas)$23M$3.6M$27M

Trend · 3 fiscal years

Nominal dollars. The Census Bureau cautions that single-government series are edited only for aggregates — read direction, not decimals.

Revenue

+17% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$781M$913M

Spending

+5% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$1.02B$1.08B

Debt outstanding

-12% over 2 yrs

FY2022FY2023FY2024

$980M$862M

How it compares · 71 cities and counties in the Library

Percentile within the cohort on each place's latest Census year. Higher is not better — the last column says what a high reading means so you can decide whether it matters here.

MeasureCity of TallahasseeCohort medianPercentileHigher means
Spending per resident$5,339$3,741
73rd
more spent per resident
Revenue per resident$4,527$3,548
64th
more raised per resident
Taxes per resident$427$1,328
1st
heavier own-tax load
Debt per resident$4,274$3,865
55th
more borrowed per resident
Own-source share of revenue68%81%
19th
less dependent on aid
Federal aid share of revenue11%7%
80th
more exposed to federal cuts
Capital share of spending9%18%
15th
more building, less operating
Interest share of spending3%4%
44th
more spend servicing debt
Debt ÷ annual revenue0.94×1.05×
41st
more leveraged
  • Census classification categories, not this government's own budget structure. Figures are audited actuals for the fiscal year shown, not the adopted budget.
  • The Census Bureau edits unit-level data only to produce state and national aggregates and advises against reading it as a precise time series for any single government; treat year-over-year moves under ~5% as noise.
  • Employee-retirement-system revenue is excluded (published separately by Census). Utility and insurance-trust revenue are shown separately from general revenue.
  • Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances (Individual Unit public-use files), unit 122073161650 (Tallahassee City). Retrieved 2026-09-07. Classification manual.

Spot an error, or know a better source for this place's adopted budget? Suggest an edit on the assessment.

Looking for how this fits City of Tallahassee's capacity to deliver? The fiscal dimension, binding constraint, and pathways live in the City of Tallahassee capacity assessment.

The Civic Infrastructure Diagnostic Framework’s structural elements — the four cluster labels, the six capacity dimensions, and the binding-constraint framing — are licensed under CC BY 4.0. Anyone may use or adapt them with attribution. Tool implementation and full article text © 2026 JTV Advisory LLC.