RJ City has made tremendous progress over the past five years, moving from the brink of financial disaster to financial solvency.  The budget is balanced so that ongoing expenditures are matched with ongoing revenues, and one-time revenues and spent on one-time projects.  This is the result of sound policies and decisions by the Mayor and City Council, strict fiscal discipline on the part of all City staff members, and a growing economy.  There is concern that a recession could undermine this economic success.

Although current economic trends have been positive, one-fifth of children in the City live in poverty.  There are gaps between what children learn in school and what they need to know to succeed, which has led to a call for public education reform efforts in RJ City.  An inadequate supply of affordable child-care providers, unmitigated transportation gaps and rising housing costs have a direct impact, not only on the regional economy, but also on individual efforts to gain and maintain employment.  The total number of children in the City’s foster care system continues to increase, and many suffer from serious behavioural and emotional problems linked to parental abuse.  These children are at risk, particularly if their stays are length, for a number of problems later in life, including welfare dependency.  Finally, the elderly and disabled populations are growing at a faster pace than the total population, requiring more services available in their homes.  The over-75 population, which requires the most extensive and expensive services due to increasing disabilities and chronic conditions, grew 40% between 1990 and 2000, twice the rate of the total County population and this trend is expected to continue.