Hi! My name is Amber Saxon, I am the current content creator and social media marketer for Truth in Accounting. I recently graduated from Bowling Green State University in April with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Business Administration specializing in Marketing and minoring in Fashion Merchandising and Product Development.

"Summer is coming to a close, students are filling up classrooms, state legislators are on hiatus, and the presidential election is now in full swing. 
What a 2023 so far, and it’s more than half over!

We’ve come a long way this year at Truth in Accounting; our beautiful sign is up at the University of Denver, and we are in education mode. We are planning our events for the next academic year - more to come about that. We are teaching a class and have hired new interns to help with our research efforts. This partnership continues to be a win and that's a win for you too!"

Hello, I’m Anna Broerman, the graphic design intern for Truth in Accounting. I am a third-year student at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio. I am studying visual communication technology, which combines photography, videography, interactive media, and print (or graphic design). 

On Tuesday, August 1, 2023, Greg Bishop of WMAY Springfield's Morning News interviewed me. We discussed the recently unveiled budget summary for FY2024 by the Illinois Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA). This is a bi-partisan Commission that includes Democratic and Republican state senators and house members.

I recently had the pleasure of sitting with our esteemed board member, Chuck Chokel, to discuss the latest U.S. Treasury Report. Chuck has bravely poured through this report for the past three years, so we don't have to. 

Aren't you glad some people think that's fun?

We recorded the conversation so you could watch it at your leisure, which we encourage you to do because there are some very revealing facts. 

The Chicago Mayoral race is underway. This is an important election for Chicago and Illinois. Therefore, every voter must be “fiscally educated” before entering the voting booth. 

A week to celebrate the 1966 signing of the Freedom of Information Act and to continue the promotion of an open government with public oversight. 

When someone wants to evaluate a municipality’s financial condition, they usually turn to the organization’s financial statements and budget reports. While both documents contain useful information, seldom is such information sufficient to obtain the clear and complete picture a reader seeks. Often, consumers of such information are left with countless questions not addressed in the two documents. Worse, sometimes the relationship between the two documents is so murky, it is difficult for a reader to formulate relevant questions.

A not so funny thing happened on the way to the release of our Financial State of the Cities. We used 2021 data, because most cities don’t have their 2022 data out yet. For 2021 there were crazy data swings. The most alarming was that San Francisco went from 67th worst city out of 75 to 2nd best. Los Angeles had a similar swing going from 44th worst to 4th best.

I'm sure you've heard the Mayor Lightfoot news by now. 

What does this mean for Chicago? What does this mean for the country?

Chicago ranked second worst in the nation in our most recent report on the fiscal health of our 75 largest cities. 

As the third largest city in our country, Chicago has affected culture and politics.  

How could it not????

The vast majority of state and local governments require their budgets to be balanced, yet most of these government entities continue to face huge shortfalls thanks to unfunded pension and retiree health care promises and short-sighted accounting tricks that are used to make budgets appear balanced.

Government Accounting 101

Why are there different accounting standards for the government and the private sector?