On the heels of credit rating upgrades, Illinois has sold $1.6 billion worth of bonds to fund a pension buyout program and construction projects. As the Chicago Tribune reported, Gov. J.B. Pritzker touted the upgrades lauding Democratic leaders for their work “to make sure that we’re back in good fiscal order, that the state is building its fiscal foundations for the road ahead.” But as Hetty Chang of Moody has stated, ratings are not “public policy report cards, although politicians may use them as such.” Credit ratings do not focus on the overall financial condition of the state; they focus on the likelihood of bonds being paid.

And if the state is in such “good fiscal order,” then why did it need to borrow money?  

Did you know that many cities, such as Chicago and Los Angeles, do not include the financial information of their school districts and other underlying entities in their financial reports and budgets? The result is taxpayers are on the hook for far more debt than they know. To provide a more complete picture of the 10 most populous U.S. cities including their largest underlying government units, Truth in Accounting has released its annual City Combined Taxpayer Burden report.

Congratulations to Kansas for winning the national NCAA basketball championship beating North Carolina 72 – 69, but North Carolina’s taxpayers are better off.

Today Truth in Accounting (TIA), a think tank that analyzes government financial reporting, released its annual Financial State of the Union report. This report analyzes the audited financial report of the United States government for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021.

Our Financial State of the Union report found that the financial condition of the U.S. government worsened by more than $10 trillion in 2021.

To understand the state of the union we must understand the financial state of the union. Fortunately, for the first time in years the Financial Report of the US Government was issued (February 17) before the State of the Union address. Will the President mention the important information included in the report?

Truth in Accounting announces its partnership with Denver University’s Daniels College of Business which will bring together these two organizations’ focus on ethical leadership. A pilot program concentrating on government budgeting and accounting will be created at Daniels’ School of Accountancy. 

Even before the game started, Truth in Accounting concluded Los Angeles beat Cincinnati. LA's Taxpayer Burden is only $6,400 compared to Cincinnati's $18,200. These amounts represent each taxpayer's share of their city's debt, including unfunded pension and retiree health care liabilities.

Includes: Liz Farmer: "There were plenty of cities that weren’t facing a revenue shortfall when the American Rescue Plan happened and they got that check. "

In his budget address, Governor JB Pritzker suggested  that people who questioned his plan and statements are carnival barkers. Who are those carnival barkers?

As of January 31, 2022 the Treasury Department website clocks the debt in at $30,012,386,059,238.29, but...

Today is my last day at Truth in Accounting.

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