The 0.7%: Five Cities Earning Starbridge's Rarest Budget Rating in 2026

Across 7,189 scored municipalities, Starbridge's budget intelligence platform flags just 49 as "Aggressive Spenders" — cities with accelerating budgets, funded capital programs, and active procurement signals. That is 0.7% of all rated cities. Five of them — spanning four states, population bands from 24,000 to 520,000, and combined budgets exceeding $3B — share a pattern that no single city profile reveals: every one is simultaneously buying enterprise technology while executing billion-dollar-scale infrastructure programs.

Five Cities, One Budget Posture

Atlanta anchors the cluster with a $3B total operating budget and a General Fund that grew 14.24% to $975.4M. Dublin, Ohio posted a 9.8% operating budget increase to $114.9M, backed by record income tax receipts of $112.3M. Oak Harbor, Washington logged a 39.4% year-over-year budget increase, with the 2025-2026 biennial budget exceeding $167M. Euless, Texas grew 9.4% on strong sales tax and car-rental tax collections. The Colony, Texas surged 17.5% overall with a 34.9% General Fund increase.

Starbridge analyzes adopted budgets, leadership changes, capital programs, and fiscal indicators to score cities on budget direction and spending readiness (0-100). These five score between 88 and 92 — all in the top percentile — and all carry an "accelerating" budget momentum designation.

| City | State | Population | Score | Budget Growth | |------|-------|-----------|-------|---------------| | Oak Harbor | WA | 24,163 | 92 | 39.4% YoY | | Dublin | OH | 49,456 | 90 | 9.8% YoY | | Euless | TX | 60,010 | 90 | 9.4% YoY | | Atlanta | GA | 520,070 | 88 | 14.24% YoY (GF) | | The Colony | TX | 45,897 | 88 | 17.5% YoY |

What Separates the 0.7%

Three structural factors distinguish these cities from the 7,140 municipalities that did not earn the Aggressive Spender designation.

Deep reserves eliminate procurement hesitation. Dublin holds an unassigned General Fund balance equal to 64.4% of expenditures — more than triple the Government Finance Officers Association minimum — plus a $33.3M FY2024 surplus. The Colony maintains $35.9M in unassigned reserves with an 80-day operating cushion. Atlanta adopted its FY2026 budget balanced with no use of fund balance and holds a Fitch AAA credit rating. Oak Harbor reports assets exceeding liabilities by $197.95M with $70.2M available for discretionary spending. These cities do not defer purchases because of cash constraints — they defer only when business cases fall short.

Diversified revenue streams insulate against single-source risk. Oak Harbor funds expansion through a fire levy lid lift and excess bond levy, with enterprise funds accounting for 42% of the budget. Dublin relies on income tax (7.7% budgeted growth) rather than property tax dependence. Euless benefits from car-rental tax transfers — an unusual revenue source tied to DFW Airport proximity — alongside sales tax collections. Atlanta executed a one-mill property tax reallocation that raised property tax revenue to approximately $388.6M without increasing the total millage rate.

Declining debt service frees operating capacity. Both Euless and The Colony report declining debt service according to Starbridge budget intelligence data, loosening fiscal constraints and expanding discretionary purchasing capacity. When debt payments shrink, the delta flows directly into capital and technology budgets — exactly where vendors compete.

$10B in Capital Programs, One Procurement Window

The combined capital pipeline across these five cities exceeds $10B when Atlanta's multi-year programs are included.

Atlanta leads with $9.3B in total capital funding across infrastructure, water systems, and public safety. Immediate priorities include $120M in downtown infrastructure bonds for roadway resurfacing, sidewalks, bike lanes, and street lights tied to 2026 FIFA World Cup preparations, plus a $61.3M North Utoy Trunk Sewer Replacement and a $2B 20-year water system repair program.

Dublin approved a $374.6M five-year Capital Improvements Program covering 144 projects spanning transportation, parks, utilities, and facilities. Oak Harbor allocated $63M to capital projects, with marina upgrades consuming $20M (32% of capital funds). The Colony has $13M+ in active street and infrastructure projects, including Phase 1 ($4.06M) and Phase 2 ($4.45M) street improvements and $4M Strickland Channel storm sewer work.

The Enterprise Technology Pattern

The cross-city signal that matters most for GovTech vendors: all five cities are actively buying enterprise technology, and four of the five have ERP modernization in progress or budgeted.

Oak Harbor issued a formal ERP RFP covering financials and HR with requirements for data migration, integration, and analytics. Euless budgeted $1.5M for ERP implementation alongside SCADA upgrades and Cityworks deployment. Atlanta allocated $8.676M for a Business License & Cashiering system and ~$4.95M for financial/ERP modernization, plus E-911 and ITSM projects. Dublin committed $6.9M+ to technology including Connected Dublin & Smart Corridor ($2.015M), AI Innovations ($1.3M), Fiber/Camera/IoT ($1.6M), and CAD/RMS replacements (~$2.0M).

The Colony is executing a broad IT modernization program with enterprise backup/storage and public safety technology funded through line-item allocations and certificates of obligation.

Combined, these five cities have over $22M in explicit, budgeted technology procurement — not aspirational line items, but funded positions with active buying signals.

What Vendors Need to Know

Three entry points emerge from this cluster.

ERP and enterprise systems remain the largest single category. Four cities are buying. Oak Harbor has an open RFP. Euless and Atlanta have funded implementations. Dublin is replacing CAD/RMS systems. Vendors offering financial management, HR, permitting, or asset management platforms face a concentrated window where multiple procurement-ready cities are evaluating simultaneously.

Smart city and IoT investments are no longer pilot-stage. Dublin's $2.015M Connected Dublin & Smart Corridor allocation and $1.6M Fiber/Camera/IoT budget represent production deployments, not experiments. The Colony's enterprise backup/storage modernization and Atlanta's E-911 upgrades confirm that infrastructure-layer technology is procurement-ready across population bands.

FIFA World Cup creates a fixed deadline. Atlanta's $120M downtown infrastructure bond and $23M Northside Drive Pedestrian Bridge have a hard 2026 deadline. Vendors in roadway, pedestrian infrastructure, smart traffic, and wayfinding have a non-negotiable procurement timeline — Atlanta will buy, and buy fast.

The 0.7% designation is not a label — it is a buying signal. These five cities have the budgets, the reserves, the revenue growth, and the funded project lists to execute procurement at scale. The window is open now.