Seattle City Wire

A new report labeled Seattle's financial health with a C grade, warning the city will only get worse coming out of the COVID-19 crisis.

The report, Fiscal State of the Cities, is from Truth in Accounting, a non-profit right-leaning think-tank that provides an analysis of governmental fiscal data.

The report released Jan. 26 studied the 75 most populated U.S. cities before the coronavirus pandemic impacted economies large and small.

Among the cities, Seattle ranked 33rd for fiscal health and finds itself among the 62 cities that will be unable to scrounge the money needed to pay bill totals after the health crisis ends, the report determined.

The analysis found Seattle's bills totaled $3.93 billion, and the city had $3.01 billion available. The $926.7 million gap equates to each local taxpayer having a $3,400 burden to put the city in the green.

The potential financial issue earned Seattle the "Sinkhole City" designation from the organization instead of the "Sunshine City" label, which is for cities with the funds available to cover their bills.

Before the health crisis, Seattle's fiscal state improved by 38% over the previous year, the report said. Most of that gain was due to a decrease in liability because the city's pension plans experienced strong investment returns.

Bills the city accumulated over the year include pension benefits to the tune of $1.16 billion and retiree health-care benefits at $618 million, both of which are unfunded, the report said. The largest source of debt Seattle accrued was through bonds at $5.74 billion.

The report is not sanguine about the future of cities in debt.

"Most of the cities were ill-prepared for any crisis, much less one as serious as what we are currently facing," the report said. "Total debt among the 75 cities amounted to $333.5 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2019, which will only worsen as the cities face varying and unpredictable effects from the global pandemic."