Financial State of the Cities 2024

FEBRUARY 15, 2024

At the end of the fiscal year 2022, 53 cities did not have enough money to pay all of their bills.

Financial State of the Cities 2023

FEBRUARY 7, 2023

This year's report highlights the volatility and risk surrounding pension plan assets and corresponding pension liabilities.

Financial State of the Cities 2022

JANUARY 25, 2022

Truth in Accounting has released its sixth annual Financial State of the Cities report.

PRESS RELEASE: Majority of U.S. cities finances worsened during beginning of COVID-19 pandemic

JANUARY 24, 2022

Despite receiving federal assistance from the CARES Act and other COVID-19 related grants, the majority of cities’ finances worsened. Total debt among the 75 largest U.S. cities amounted to $357 billion at the end of the fiscal year 2020, which was $23.5 billion worse than the last fiscal year.

The Mark Larson Show: Truth in Accounting and what taxpayers are on the hook for

MAY 19, 2021 | SPREAKER | by Mark Larson

Interview with Sheila Weinberg, text intro includes “San Diego taxpayers are on the hook for lots of education money.”

City Combined Taxpayer Burden Report 2021

MAY 11, 2021

Truth in Accounting has released a new analysis of the 10 most populous U.S. cities that includes their largest underlying government units.

Court ruling on San Diego’s public pensions demonstrates the importance of stakeholder collaboration in pension reform

FEBRUARY 11, 2021 | REASON FOUNDATION | by Alix Ollivier

By Alix Olliver, includes “Last month, California Superior Court Judge Richard Strauss ruled San Diego’s 2012 pension reform effort, Proposition B should be invalidated. Nearly a decade ago, San Diego voters approved Proposition B as a way to help the city’s struggling finances by replacing San Diego’s public pension plan with a defined-contribution retirement plan …”

Majority of U.S. cities ill-prepared for COVID-19 pandemic

JANUARY 26, 2021

The 2021 Financial State of the Cities (FSOC) surveys the fiscal health of the 75 largest municipalities in the United States. This data is released today by Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting.

Financial State of the Cities 2021

JANUARY 26, 2021

Our fifth annual Financial State of the Cities report. This analysis surveys the fiscal health of the 75 most populated US cities prior to the coronavirus pandemic. 

California teachers face layoffs as pandemic forces big state budget cuts

MAY 18, 2020 | TIMES OF SAN DIEGO | by Ricardo Cano

The fire comes in the form of a $6.5 billion cut to schools’ main source of funding as well as other reductions in Gov. Gavin Newsom’s revised budget that, if enacted, would mean single-year reductions to public education greater than those experienced during the Great Recession a decade ago, according to advocates.

City Combined Taxpayer Burden Report 2020

MAY 12, 2020

Truth in Accounting has released a new report on the 10 largest U.S. cities. The City Combined Taxpayer Burden report analyzes the finances of each city, its county, state, and underlying government units.

2020 Financial State of the Cities

JANUARY 28, 2020

Our fourth annual report on the financial condition of the nation's 75 largest cities. 

‘Cold hard truth’ – Why San Diego County schools are in the red

SEPTEMBER 18, 2018 | POWAY PATCH (CALIFORNIA) | by Hoa Quach

SAN DIEGO, CA -- As students return to classrooms this month for another year of reading, writing and arithmetic, school districts in San Diego County will be grappling with math problems of their own: How to make ends meet in an era of escalating costs.

Cold hard truth: Why San Diego County schools are in the red

AUGUST 29, 2018 | POWAY PATCH (CALIFORNIA) | by Hoa Quach

As students return to classrooms this month for another year of reading, writing and arithmetic, school districts in San Diego County will be grappling with math problems of their own: How to make ends meet in an era of escalating costs.

City Combined Taxpayer Burden Report 2018

JULY 17, 2018

TIA's new analysis of the 10 most populous U.S. cities and their largest local government units shows you're on the hook for more debt than you think.

Gov. Brown to pension-hammered cities: You’re on your own

MAY 16, 2018 | SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE (CALIFORNIA) | by Editorial Board

Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent declaration that local governments are on their own in dealing with the huge costs of overly generous pensions has a surface logic to it.

What cities are doing about pensions

MARCH 28, 2018 | NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES (CITIESSPEAK) | by NLC Staff

When it comes to pension funding solutions, city size and geography matter.

The pension crisis is starting to hit home. School choice might be the only answer

JANUARY 26, 2018 | NATIONAL REVIEW | by Lewis Andrews

Private schools educate students far more cheaply than public ones do.

 

On full public pension funding – a follow up

SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 | STUMP

I got several emails over my recent post on the never-fully-funders advocates with respect to public pensions.

Why unfunded public pension plans amount to theft

SEPTEMBER 22, 2017 | THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE | by Dick Vortmann

The opinion piece “Why full funding of public pensions wastes money” (Sept. 15) was very disturbing. 

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