Tennessee secures the lowest debt figures amongst the US states

According to the state comptroller’s office, the total debt on the State of Tennessee amounts to $5.9 billion. The only news that could bring cheers to the faces is that the state of Tennessee holds the record for the lowest debt per head amongst the rest of the states in the country. According to the figures released at the 2010 fiscal-year end, Tennessee holds the 50^thspot amongst the US states for the lowest per capita state debt. Debt relief options such as debt settlement and debt consolidation have been widely employed by the people of Tennessee.

Figure speak

As per the figures released on the 2012 fiscal-year end, $5,861,696,000 is the value of the total debt on the state of Tennessee. Comptroller Justin Wilson says in his semi-annual Indebtedness Report that the final debt amount is a result of a drop of $257.2 million half a year ago. Further, an additional bond debt worth $3.9 billion has been authorized by the state legislature. Reports say that the bond debt still remains unissued as of now and is likely to remain so.

Wilson seemed very positive in his statements on the report. He believes that the report has the capability to bring a wealth of good news to Tennessee’s taxpayers. Tennessee has been managing its finances well. This acts as the prime reason behind the low debt and impressive credit ratings.

Public release and review of the state report

The report was distributed to the top officials of the state and also released in the public. A separate copy was sent to Gov. Bill Haslam. The governor is reported to have referred to the state’s low debt figures in the Republican National Convention. He did that while delivering 58 votes of Tennessee for Mitt Romney. He started his speech addressing the Secretary and used the powerful and favorable phrases like 'no income tax', 'budget surplus', 'low debt' etc.

The state report was reviewed by the assistant professor of economics at Vanderbilt University, Malcolm Getz. He also analyzed the comparisons of state populations and debt drawn by the US census at the 2010 fiscal year end. He has agreed to the fact that the level of debt in Tennessee is comparatively low when compared to other US states.

Gets added numeric details to the report as he mentioned the debt figures in states such as South Carolina, Missouri, Nebraska and Tennessee. The US national per capita median state debt stands at $3,410. The states of South Carolina and Missouri have the national figure as their per capita debt. Tennessee holds the first place for a low debt figure of $919. The second position goes to Nebraska with per capita debt figure of $1,276.

According to Wilson, the state refinanced a portion of its total debt in the last fiscal year. The refinancing was done at low rates of interest. This helped save a lot of money, the present value of which stands at $61 million. An independent organization for tax analysis by the name of Tax Foundation showed Tennessee to hold the lowest figures for per capita debt in the US at the 2010 fiscal year end.