The Atlanta Journal-Constitution compared Fulton County spending on five key services to that of other counties locally and to demographically-similar counties across the country.
Some counties in other states did not offer services comparable to Fulton’s, so their data is not included. And in some cases, departments did not cooperate, such as the Circuit Court for Jacksonville-Duval County, Fla., which has yet to fulfill an open records request.
Below are some of the newspaper’s findings.
Fulton County
Elections
Voters: 568,295
Spending per voter: $10.77
Employees per 100,000 voters: 3.5
Libraries
Cardholders: 448,753
Spending per cardholder: $64.10
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 80.9
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 197,136
Spending per senior: $93.90
Employees per 100,000 seniors: 53.8
Superior Court
Population: 977,773
Spending per capita: $22.92
Employees per 1,000 cases: 8.7
Tax assessor
Parcels: 343,199
Spending per parcel: $36.98
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 43.1
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Cobb County
Elections
Voters: 415,037
Spending per voter: $7.04
Employees per 100,000 voters: 5.4
Libraries
Cardholders: 345,087
Spending per cardholder: $30.16
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 64.3
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 148,568
Spending per senior: $27.13
Employees per 100,000 seniors: 27.6
Superior court
Population: 707,442
Spending per capita: $8.68
Employees per 1,000 cases: 4.8
Tax assessor
Parcels: 248,121
Spending per parcel: $20.21
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 21.0
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DeKalb County
Elections
Voters: 418,830
Spending per voter: $8.76
Employees per 100,000 voters: 3.3
Libraries
Cardholders: 183,769
Spending per cardholder: $66.36
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 139.3
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 146,229
Spending per senior: $18.04
Employees per 100,000 seniors: 13.7
Superior court
Population: 707,089
Spending per capita: $11.21
Employees per 1,000 cases: 3.6
Tax assessor
Parcels: 235,388
Spending per parcel: $17.75
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 28.0
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Gwinnett County
Elections
Voters: 396,727
Spending per voter: $11.84
Employees per 100,000 voters: 3.0
Libraries
Cardholders: 310,570
Spending per cardholder: $54.05
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 84.8
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 150,739
Spending per senior: $11.94
Employees per 100,000 seniors: 12.6
Superior court
Population: 842,046
Spending per capita: $7.15
Employees per 1,000 cases: 4.3
Tax assessor
Parcels: 273,743
Spending per parcel: $20.87
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 13.5
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Allegheny County (Pittsburgh)
Elections
Voters: 879,284
Spending per voter: $6.44
Employees per 100,000 voters: 4.0
Libraries
Cardholders: NA
Spending per cardholder: NA
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: NA
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): NA
Spending per senior: NA
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: 574,400
Spending per parcel: $10.13
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 13.2
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Cuyahoga County, Ohio (Cleveland)
Elections
Voters: 752,203
Spending per voter: $23.21
Employees per 100,000 voters: 13.0
Libraries
Cardholders: 916,385
Spending per cardholder: $71.05
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 65.1
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 374,225
Spending per senior: $32.12
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: 1,265,111
Spending per capita: $33.97
Employees per 1,000 cases: 12.1
Tax assessor
Parcels: 525,305
Spending per parcel: $17.78
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 16.8
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Duval County, Fla. (Jacksonville)
Elections
Voters: 546,581
Spending per voter: $11.56
Employees per 100,000 voters: 6.4
Libraries
Cardholders: 580,904
Spending per cardholder: $64.26
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 76.8
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 211,513
Spending per senior: $20.22
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: 350,119
Spending per parcel: $24.76 (2011-12 budget year)
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 35.0
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Erie County, NY (Buffalo)
Elections
Voters: 584,622
Spending per voter: $14.36
Employees per 100,000 voters: 13.3
Libraries
Cardholders: 268,025
Spending per cardholder: $102.28
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 151.1
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 270,881
Spending per senior: $7.90
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: NA
Spending per parcel: NA
Employees per 100,000 parcels: NA
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Franklin County, OH (Columbus)
Elections
Voters: 574,563
Spending per voter: $19.22
Employees per 100,000 voters: 8.5
Libraries
Cardholders: N/A
Spending per cardholder: N/A
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: N/A
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 255,340
Spending per senior: $106.66
Employees per 100,000 seniors: *
Superior court equivalent
Population: 1,195,537
Spending per capita: $18.11
Employees per 1,000 cases: 10.9
Tax assessor
Parcels: 442,378
Spending per parcel: $33.13
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 22.1
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Hennepin County, Minn. (Minneapolis)
Elections
Voters: 680,065
Spending per voter: $2.67
Employees per 100,000 voters: 1.3
Libraries
Cardholders: 867,111
Spending per cardholder: $76.86
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 70.5
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): NA
Spending per senior: NA
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: NA
Spending per parcel: NA
Employees per 100,000 parcels: NA
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Marion County, Ind. (Indianapolis)
Elections
Voters: 637,820
Spending per voter: $5.80
Employees per 100,000 voters: 1.3
Libraries
Cardholders: 532,467
Spending per cardholder: $84.92
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 71.2
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): NA
Spending per senior: NA
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: NA
Spending per parcel: NA
Employees per 100,000 parcels: NA
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Mecklenburg County, NC (Charlotte)
Elections
Voters: 576,719
Spending per voter: $7.65
Employees per 100,000 voters: 3.6
Libraries
Cardholders: 224,091
Spending per cardholder: $131.00
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 165.4
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 190,327
Spending per senior: $9.46
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: 357,684
Spending per parcel: $25.30
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 21.0
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Milwaukee County, Wis. (Milwaukee)
Elections
Voters: NA
Spending per voter: NA
Employees per 100,000 voters: NA
Libraries
Cardholders: NA
Spending per cardholder: NA
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: NA
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 219,971
Spending per senior: $5.52
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: NA
Spending per parcel: NA
Employees per 100,000 parcels: NA
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Orange County, Fla. (Orlando)
Elections
Voters: 698,539
Spending per voter: $13.83
Employees per 100,000 voters: 6.4
Libraries
Cardholders: NA
Spending per cardholder: NA
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: NA
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): 248,187
Spending per senior: $3.04
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: NA
Spending per parcel: NA
Employees per 100,000 parcels: NA
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Pima County, Arizona (Tucson)
Elections
Voters: NA
Spending per voter: NA
Employees per 100,000 voters: NA
Libraries
Cardholders: 405,419
Spending per cardholder: $85.26
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: 99.8
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): NA
Spending per senior: NA
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: 992,394
Spending per capita: $30.05
Employees per 1,000 cases: 27.9
Tax assessor
Parcels: NA
Spending per parcel: NA
Employees per 100,000 parcels: NA
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Pinellas County, Fla.
Elections
Voters: NA
Spending per voter: NA
Employees per 100,000 voters: NA
Libraries
Cardholders: NA
Spending per cardholder: NA
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: NA
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): NA
Spending per senior: NA
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: 434,014
Spending per parcel: $23.62
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 28.3
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Shelby County, Tenn.
Elections
Voters: 491,360
Spending per voter: $8.13
Employees per 100,000 voters: 3.1
Libraries
Cardholders: NA
Spending per cardholder: NA
Employees per 100,000 cardholders: NA
Senior services
Senior population (55 and older): NA
Spending per senior: NA
Employees per 100,000 seniors: NA
Superior court equivalent
Population: NA
Spending per capita: NA
Employees per 1,000 cases: NA
Tax assessor
Parcels: 417,777
Spending per parcel: $24.15
Employees per 100,000 parcels: 33.5
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NOTE: Based on the availability of data, in some cases active voters, library cardholders and property parcels are from the last fiscal year, and in some cases they are current.
In some cases, counties did not track active voters as Fulton does, so voter numbers from the 2012 presidential election were substituted.
Other differences came up in how county’s felony court divisions were organized in other states. Unlike with Fulton’s Superior Court, Pima County’s figures include Probate Court, Franklin County includes adult probation and Cuyahoga County includes probation and court security.
Several out-of-state counties also had dramatic differences between local spending and total spending, which includes federal and state grants. Since this would affect the number of locally-funded employees, the AJC did not include employees per 100,000 seniors in this analysis.
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