Over 20 communities have used the Finance Decoder to turn dense spreadsheets into clear direction—proving that financial transparency doesn’t have to be dull.
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Thanks to a new tool, a local group in Artesia is highlighting that true resilience lies in lasting stability, not just getting by in the moment.
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What if you could see where your city makes money—and where it quietly loses it? That’s what a group of residents in Langley, British Columbia set out to do.
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Calgary is transparent about it’s finances. Now it’s time to uncover where value is being created—and where resources are being drained.
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Houston’s new Popular Annual Financial Report tells a reassuring story of short-term growth and recovery, but it ignores the city's long-term financial trends. If things are going to improve, public officials need to confront reality.
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Annexation is a method of city growth in which parcels or developments are added to municipal borders by city officials and staff. It's usually a disaster for a city's finances. But there are a few (very rare) cases where it might be advantageous.
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Most city officials are operating in good faith, trying their best to make decisions that will help their community. Even when they've made bad decisions in the past, it's never too late to start making good ones.
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In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck discusses municipal finance with Michel Durand-Wood, a longtime Strong Towns contributor and local budget aficionado.
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Washington's Department of Transportation recently reported that they’re weight restricting another bridge because it’s becoming dangerously old. This is a symptom of a problem that stretches across North America: grossly misplaced priorities. It's time for a serious reevaluation of transportation spending priorities.
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This fall, seven states will have the opportunity to cut — or abolish, in some cases — property taxes. In this episode of Upzoned, co-hosts Abby Newsham and Chuck Marohn discuss whether that’s a good idea. (Spoiler: It isn’t.)
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In this episode of the Strong Towns Podcast, Chuck responds to a recent Substack column that criticized the Strong Towns stance on the Suburban Experiment and infrastructure spending.
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Are urban areas really more financially sustainable than suburbs? Do urban areas inherently have higher infrastructure costs? Here's what Strong Towns actually says about the Suburban Experiment and infrastructure spending.
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The financial struggles of Houston and the cities of the Silicon Valley area—as well as tens of thousands of others across North America—have the same underlying cause.
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“Is this a good project, or will it set up my city for financial insolvency??” Here’s how to find out.
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If we’re not paying attention, it can be hard to tell whether a city is using debt to simply to smooth out cashflows, or if it’s just covering up insolvency. Here are four telltale signs of the latter scenario.
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At a glance, the sales tax is a nearly invisible revenue source that is also a cash cow. Yet, for local governments, it is the most distorting of taxes. Here’s why.
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The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has done the math on a proposed development in rural Collier County, FL, and what they discovered enabled them to take a large-scale developer to court.
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What kind of financial challenges can our cities and towns expect to face in the new year?
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Part of having transparent local accounting is ensuring that the people living in a community know and understand the public costs associated with their homes and businesses. Right now, that isn’t the case in most places.
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Yet another failed mall (this time in Milwaukee, WI) proves to be a drag on—and an active harm to—its surroundings.
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