No City Should Rely Primarily on a Sales Tax for Funding

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.

Marohn, Transparent Accounting, Top StoryCharles MarohnMay 1, 2023sales tax, Transparent Local Accounting, tax revenue, local government, city government, municipal finance, finance, financial solvency, local finance

Appeals Court Gives Group Second Chance To Fight Florida Development

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.

Transparent Accounting, News, Success Story, Top StoryBen AbramsonFebruary 3, 2023Transparent Local Accounting, Florida, developers, Development, development, suburban development pattern, Urban3, financial solvency, success, success stories

Financial Outlook for 2023 and Beyond

What kind of financial challenges can our cities and towns expect to face in the new year?

Infrastructure, Marohn, Transparent Accounting, Top Story 2Charles MarohnJanuary 2, 2023financial solvency, Transparent Local Accounting, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure bill, infrastructure cost

Your City May Be Illegally Assessing You for Routine Infrastructure Maintenance

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.

#DotheMath, Infrastructure, Marohn, Finance, Top Story, Transparent AccountingCharles MarohnNovember 28, 2022Transparent Local Accounting, local finance, public finance, maintenance, Maintenance, Infrastructure, infrastructure, infrastructure cost, infrastructure maintenance, financial solvency, #DoTheMath

Mall Money, More Problems

Yet another failed mall (this time in Milwaukee, WI) proves to be a drag on—and an active harm to—its surroundings.

#DotheMath, Quednau, Top Story, Safe & Productive Streets, Transparent AccountingRachel QuednauSeptember 1, 2022malls, financial solvency, #DoTheMath, finance, Value Per Acre, Wisconsin, Milwaukee, milwaukee, shopping malls, public investment

Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Transit Edition)

Don’t be fooled: Winnipeg’s newly proposed “rapid transit” project is actually a road-widening project in disguise. And it aims to borrow money so the City can destroy millions of dollars of its own tax base.

Your City’s Accounting Is Unnecessarily Obscure. It’s Time To Pull Back the Veil.

We expect city budgets and financial reports to inform citizens and community leaders alike, but in reality, local government accounting is unnecessarily complicated, confusing, and illogical.

Membership, #DotheMath, Finance, Top StoryLinda TwillmanJune 8, 2022memweek strategic plan series, finance, financial solvency, local finance, municipal finance, public finance, local government, #DoTheMath, Transparent Local Accounting

The Death of a Car City

Michel Durand-Wood takes us on a hilarious walk through the stages of grief as he puts a financial spike in the heart of his beloved city’s unsustainable 2050 Master Plan.

Transportation, #NoNewRoads, Top StoryMichel Durand-WoodJanuary 3, 2022car culture, induced demand, Winnipeg, car dependency, canada, cars, transportation, financial solvency, local government, #NoNewRoads

Can Local Governments Be Held Accountable to Their Own Policies?

This organization is suing their local government over an insolvent, master-planned development in Collier County, Florida.

Finance, Herriges, Local Government, Taking Action, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesDecember 2, 2021Florida, environment, local politics, local government, master planned, financial solvency, taking action

Who Pays for Growth in Collier County, Florida: Part 1

In this new series, we’re looking at Collier County as a case study for how insolvent growth persists in Florida. What's the history behind Collier’s development, and where is it headed?

Economic Development, Growth Ponzi Scheme, Herriges, Top StoryDaniel HerrigesMay 19, 2021Florida, Development, growth, series, history, financial solvency, collier county series

Finding the Small Bets in a Disinvested Neighborhood

Fernando Peralta Berrios—president at the Las Familias de Rosemont neighborhood association in Fort Worth, Texas—discusses how he and his neighbors have partnered with the City of Fort Worth to guide public investment in its historically disinvested neighborhood.

It's The Little Things, Success Story, Podcast, Top StoryStrong TownsMarch 5, 2020Strong Citizenship, community, how to, financial solvency, budget, megaprojects, neighborhood association, public investment, impact

New Arena? Check. Vacant Downtown and Snow-Clogged Sidewalks? Also Check.

Strong Towns member Cindy Long discusses how the Strong Towns Community inspired her to ask her city council the hard questions about the city's financial status.

Podcast, It's The Little Things, Success Story, Top StoryStrong TownsFebruary 28, 2020Strong Citizenship, community, how to, financial solvency, budget, megaprojects, inspired

Best of 2018: The More We Grow, the Poorer We Become

Local governments can’t take on more and more promises without generating enough wealth to meet those obligations—not without a reckoning. We need a radical revolution in how we plan, manage, and inhabit our cities, counties, and neighborhoods. We need a Strong Towns approach.

Marohn, Growth Ponzi Scheme, #DotheMath, Best of BlogCharles MarohnDecember 13, 2018Taco Johns, Municipal Debt, infrastructure cost, financial solvency, Best of 2018, Value Per Acre

Math, Maps, and Money: How Fiscal Analysis Can Change the Conversation

Jordan Clark and Felix Landry of Verdunity discuss the importance of understanding the fiscal consequences of our development patterns, as well as the ways that cities can use map-based fiscal analysis to make more holistic land use decisions.

Top Story, Planning ProfessionJordan Clark and Felix LandrySeptember 27, 2018financial solvency, Value Per Acre

Risking Some Tough Talk

You can’t build stroads, subsidize big box stores and accept endless edge development, and have that work out for you just because you threw a block party, painted a mural and put in a temporary bike lane.

Marohn, Politics, Rational Responses, Top StoryCharles MarohnSeptember 10, 2018local government, financial solvency, suburban experiment

A Conversation With the Urban3 Team

In the latest episode of the Strong Towns podcast, we share a conversation Chuck had at CNU 2018 with three of the geoanalytics wizards from Urban3. Hear the latest on their efforts to spread the message about where your city’s wealth is really coming from.

Podcast, Top Story, CNUStrong TownsSeptember 6, 2018local government, urban design, Urban3, financial solvency, infrastructure cost

The More We Grow, the Poorer We Become

Local governments can’t take on more and more promises without generating enough wealth to meet those obligations—not without a reckoning. We need a radical revolution in how we plan, manage, and inhabit our cities, counties, and neighborhoods. We need a Strong Towns approach.

Marohn, Growth Ponzi Scheme, #DotheMath, Top StoryCharles MarohnAugust 22, 2018Taco Johns, Municipal Debt, infrastructure cost, financial solvency, Value Per Acre

Why Did This Town's Entire Police Force Quit?

When a small Massachusetts town made national news as its entire police force quit, it was easy to have preconceived notions about what the moral of the story must be. Then a reader from the town reached out to give us this far more nuanced and interesting explanation.

Top Story, Rational ResponsesChristian BerglandAugust 15, 2018Public Safety, financial solvency, rural, Small Towns

The Road Ahead for Cobb County

Cobb County, Georgia, has long been all-in on debt-fueled, unsustainable growth, and faces a tough road ahead as poverty grows and its ability to provide services declines. What are some rational responses to this predicament?