Truth in Accounting: Making Cities’ Finances Transparent for All

<p>Last year, our friends over at <a href='https://www.urbanthree.com'>Urban3</a> introduced us to a nonpartisan nonprofit called <a href='https://www.truthinaccounting.org'>Truth in Accounting</a>, which recently published <a href='https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/Financial-State-of-the-Cities-2022.pdf'>Financial State of the Cities 2022</a>, an annual report that they do on local governments and the state of their budgets.</p> <p>It’s an incredible piece of work, one that says, “We do not advocate for anything: no tax policy, no spending policy. The only thing we advocate for is good budgeting and accounting.” Their only goal is to get the numbers out there to the public, as they believe strongly that governments are harmed when citizens (and sometimes even elected officials) are in the dark when it comes to financial information. Knowledgeable decisions can’t be made if people don’t know the true financial condition of their government.</p> <p>Sheila Weinberg, a CPA and Founder and CEO of Truth in Accounting, joins Chuck Marohn today on the Strong Towns Podcast to talk about <a href='https://www.truthinaccounting.org/news/detail/financial-state-of-the-cities-2022#:~:text=January%2025%2C%202022&text=The%20report%20found%20that%2061,pay%20all%20of%20their%20bills.&text=Total%20debt%20among%20the%2075,than%20the%20last%20fiscal%20year.'>the work her organization is doing</a> to make municipal financial information both transparent and available to everyone.</p> Additional Show Notes <ul><li> <p><a href='https://www.truthinaccounting.org'>Truth in Accounting’s website</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href='https://www.truthinaccounting.org/library/doclib/Financial-State-of-the-Cities-2022.pdf'>Financial State of the Cities 2022</a>, by Truth in Accounting (2022)</p> </li> <li> <p><a href='https://twitter.com/Sheila_Weinberg'>Sheila Weinberg (Twitter)</a></p> </li> <li> <p><a href='https://twitter.com/clmarohn'>Charles Marohn (Twitter)</a></p> </li> <li> <p>Cover image source: <a href=