Deep Debnath, with a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics, serves the role of Economist for the City of Columbia, Missouri. Prior to that, he worked with several organizations, including the University of Missouri-Columbia, Iowa State University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He performed the water utility cost of service study; relying on that report, the council adopted a water rate increase for the City of Columbia. He also forecasted the use tax and marijuana tax, which helped the City to produce a precise budget.