Data-Z News

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Falling revenue, soaring costs threaten Pittsburgh’s financial future

MAY 4, 2025 | THE PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE | by Mike Wereschagin

For city leaders, the internal report one year ago was startling: Pittsburgh’s finances, despite the glowing claims of some elected officials, were on the brink of disaster.

Common Sense And Deficit Spending

MAY 2, 2025 | THE CONNECTICUT CENTINAL | by Don Pesci

Although the state of Connecticut is sitting on a massive accumulative state pension debt of some $35 billion, most of the chatter in our media concerns the state’s biennial “surplus.”

Dallas’s $8.2B Debt Demands Ethical Leaders, Not West’s Financial Fumbles

APRIL 30, 2025 | THE DALLAS EXPRESS

Dallas’s $5 billion budget and $8.2 billion debt demand City Council members with the integrity and skill to steward taxpayer dollars responsibly. Yet a litany of financial mismanagement—from Council Member Chad West’s ethics probe to a $5.7 million Fair Park discrepancy, the city manager’s admission of misspent funds, and now the $29 million Stemmons building debacle—reveals a City Hall failing its residents. With taxpayers already burdened by rising debt, Dallas deserves leaders who prioritize the public good, not personal or political gain.

Montclair School Officials Probe How Millions in Unpaid Bills Piled Up

APRIL 28, 2025 | MONTCLAIR LOCAL | by Matt Kadosh

Fleischer addressed a statement from the public finance watchdog group Truth in Accounting, which cited the Montclair schools’ audit report advising of a $23.9 million “unrestricted” deficit for the year ending June 30, 2024 as a concern.

“They have pushed these costs into the future,” Sheila Weinberg, founder and CEO of the national public finance watchdog group, told Montclair Local. “You can think of it as your credit. This is how much they put on the taxpayers’ credit card that they’ll have to pay off in the future.”

Potential Concerns Regarding SEC Compliance: Analysis of Governor J.B. Pritzker’s Pension Funding Disclosures

APRIL 25, 2025

In 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the State of Illinois with securities fraud for misleading municipal bond investors about its pension funding obligations. The SEC’s investigation found that Illinois, between 2005 and 2009, misrepresented the risks associated with its pension funding schedule when offering more than $2.2 billion in municipal bonds. The state failed to disclose that its statutory plan significantly underfunded pension obligations, thereby increasing financial risks. In 2013, Illinois agreed to a cease-and-desist order to resolve SEC charges under Sections 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933. (link to the SEC Cease-and-Desist Order)

The CPA Education Gap: Why Future Accountants Aren’t Learning How Government Really Works

APRIL 24, 2025 | by Judi Willard

This disconnect is precisely why Truth in Accounting's work is so essential—and why education reform is a crucial part of the long game. If we want financial transparency in government, we need to teach future accountants, journalists, and citizens how the system actually works.

Despite the critical role state, local, and federal governments play in managing trillions of taxpayer dollars, most accounting students graduate without ever learning how public finances are actually reported.

 

Why Government Accounting Reform Is Foundational to Economic Policy

APRIL 24, 2025

Behind every economic policy—from infrastructure to healthcare, from tax cuts to social programs—is a budget. And behind every budget is an assumption about what money exists to spend. But what if those numbers aren’t telling the truth?

For decades, state and local governments have masked massive debts through accounting tricks and budget gimmicks, claiming balanced budgets while racking up unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities in the hundreds of billions.

This isn’t just an accounting problem—it’s a policy problem.

Budgeting Gimmicks and Misleading Financial Practices

APRIL 24, 2025

Despite laws requiring balanced budgets, state and local governments have long concealed the true costs of government through misleading budgeting and accounting practices. This lack of transparency has led to a dangerous cycle: when crises like the COVID-19 pandemic or the 2008 housing collapse occur, the federal government is compelled to bail out state and local governments with billions of taxpayer dollars. 

Tariff chaos leaves its mark on US debt costs

APRIL 15, 2025 | REUTERS

It’s too soon to tell whether the recent selloff in U.S. government debt reflects an exodus of overseas investors. Yet there are early signs that something is afoot. The sheer scale of possible future moves makes it a scenario that investors – and Uncle Sam – must contemplate.

Financial State of the Union 2025

APRIL 15, 2025

According to the most recent audited Financial Report of the U.S. Government, our nation’s true debt has climbed to $158.6 trillion, burdening each federal taxpayer with $974,000.

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