The city of Aurora Finance Department manages more than $500 million annually of public funds, including taxes, fees for service, funds from other governments, utility charges for service, and grants. These funds pay for a variety of services including police, fire protection, parks, recreation, libraries, code enforcement, and maintaining and operating transportation and water infrastructure.

The city strives to provide the highest level of accountability, reporting and transparency on the use of public funds. The Finance Department is primarily responsible for the overall direction and management of the city’s financial resources.

An annual budget provides a financial plan to allocate available resources and provide services for citizens and other city customers each year. The budget includes the amount of revenue expected to be collected as well as the amount of expenditures authorized to provide a particular service or program.

At the conclusion of each year the city publishes a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, which includes an external review and audit of all the actual revenue collection and expenses for the city. In addition to the annual budget and financial report, the city provides additional reports during the year that supply information on current year financial activities.

In the fall of 2019, the national credit rating agency Moody’s upgraded the City of Aurora credit rating to Aaa stable from Aa1. This is the top rating available and it speaks to the financial strength and well managed finances of the City of Aurora. The Moody’s rating was based on the City’s strong credit profile and its large, diverse economy with a favorable location in the metropolitan area. The City’s credit profile also benefits from a minimal debt burden and modest unfunded pension liabilities, which leads to a very manageable fixed cost burden. The Aaa rating also considers the city's long history of strong fiscal management and maintenance of healthy reserve levels, which helps mitigate the city's reliance on economically sensitive sales tax revenues.

Rating agencies provide an independent, third-party analysis of the city’s financial strength and management capabilities. The analyses and ratings are considered by investors when buying city bonds.