← Council on Local Relations · Fact checks Stamps: [C] certified Cond. reconstruction [P] projection
The record answers

Fact checks

When a post about government, taxes, wealth, schools or local finance puts numbers in front of the public, the Council checks each number against its primary source and publishes the receipts. We answer public officials, candidates, and institutional or media accounts, never private individuals.

Briefs

How verdicts are decided

A verdict is given only when its test below is met by the brief's certified rows. A verdict that can't meet its test is dropped, and the brief shows the facts without one.

Holds
Every number in the claim matches its primary source, in the same series, units and dollar basis, and the conclusion the post draws follows from those numbers.
Partly holds
At least one central number matches its primary source and at least one does not, or a number matches only under a measurement choice the post does not state.
Misleading
The numbers can each be sourced, but the comparison mixes series, real and nominal dollars, or periods, so the conclusion the post draws does not follow.
False
A central number contradicts the primary source it relies on.
Unverifiable
A central number has no primary source that can be located and opened.

Stamps: [C] certified against an openable primary source; Cond. a reconstruction that depends on a stated method; [P] a projection. A figure later found wrong is corrected within 24 hours and logged on the corrections log.