Which metric is NOT typically used to determine a jurisdiction's debt capacity?

Determining a jurisdiction's debt capacity involves assessing various financial metrics that reflect the ability to repay debt. Outstanding debt per capita, debt margin, and accrued pension liability are all relevant measures that help evaluate fiscal health and the potential for taking on additional debt.

Outstanding debt per capita provides a measure of how much debt is assigned to each individual in the jurisdiction, offering insight into the burden of debt on the population. Debt margin refers to the amount of allowable debt a jurisdiction can still incur without breaching legal or statutory limits, indicating the capacity available for new debt issuance. Accrued pension liability reflects the obligations a jurisdiction has for pensions, which can impact its overall financial stability and ratios used in assessing debt capacity.

However, annual payroll expenses do not directly influence a jurisdiction's ability to carry additional debt in the same way as the other metrics do. While payroll is a significant expenditure and contributes to the overall budgetary framework, it is not a standard indicator of debt capacity. Rather, it provides more information about operational expenditures and how they affect available resources for debt service, but does not assess the jurisdiction's creditworthiness or ability to repay debt directly. This is why it is not typically used as a primary metric in determining debt capacity.