Total operating expenses: 5-year growth above inflation

What these figures carry

• Percentage points per year, not a percentage. A value of 2 means the series grew two points a year faster than consumer prices.
• CPI is not a municipal cost index.

Which way is better

Contested. Spending is thrift or neglect depending on what you think a municipality is for. A low figure may be efficiency or a deferred road that costs a later council more. Nothing on this page is ranked, and the bars are ordered by size rather than by merit.