Series 50: Net Overall Debt Per Capita

Net Overall Debt Per Capita

This is a measure of the total tax burden on a municipality’s residents. Net overall debt per capita can be found by dividing the net overall debt of a municipality by the number of residents in the municipality. As a rule of thumb, the net overall debt per capita generally should not exceed the $2,000 to $5,000 range.

Net overall debt is the sum of net direct debt and overlapping debt.

Net direct debt is defined as the short- and long-term general obligation debt minus cash and cash equivalents. The cash and cash equivalents are subtracted because they could be used to pay down the debt if need be.

Overlapping debt is debt issued by municipalities that have overlapping geographic boundaries. The debt of a county, for example, may be paid in part by the residents of a city located in that county.

Note that municipal debt from revenue bonds is not included in net overall debt.

Thus,