The Cards

Question: What are the few numbers that frame everything else?

What it shows: Some dashboards open with a short block of up to three figures, each read live from the ledger with its locator. Which figures appear, and in what order, varies by place: the dashboard leads with the place's headline figure, and the block may show what the town collects, what it spends, or what living there costs. Where the block appears, one of its figures is the count of published corrections. Not every dashboard has the block.

How to read it: Each figure has a card of its own that explains it. The corrections count is not a flaw count; it is proof the record fixes itself in public. It is the same count the town's Check our work page shows.

What it does not tell you: Whether the town is "doing well." Each figure opens its own card.

Route: /primer/

Question: I've never looked at my town's finances. Where do I start?

What it shows: A guided walk through the town in plain language, written for a first-time reader. It is the only page on a place site that folds sections open and closed; everywhere else, everything is visible at once.

How to read it: Read it first. Every claim in it links to the card that proves it.

What it does not tell you: Anything the cards don't. It is an on-ramp, not a separate finding.

Route: /money-in/

Question: Where does the city's money come from?

Headline figure: A year's revenue, taken from the city's Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR).

Where it comes from: The city's audited ACFR. [C]

How to read it: The page breaks revenue into its sources: property tax, sales tax, fees and charges, payments from other governments, and any special payments (such as an industrial-district payment). Look for the largest source and ask what would happen if it changed.

Watch for two scopes. A city reports revenue two ways. The General Fund is the main operating account. Government-wide revenue includes other funds (debt service, special revenue, hotel tax). Both are correct and certified; they answer different questions. The page shows the bridge between them, line by line, so the two totals reconcile to the dollar.

What it does not tell you: Whether the revenue is enough. That is the Future card.

Route: /where-it-goes/

Question: What did the city spend this year, and on what?

Headline figure: Total governmental expenses for the year.

Where it comes from: The ACFR's Statement of Activities, which lists expenses by function. [C]

How to read it: Spending is broken into the functions the audit uses (for example public safety, public works, general government, community development, parks, and interest on debt), biggest first. Beside each is its net cost: what the function cost after its own fees and grants. Net cost is the part general taxes have to cover.

What it does not tell you: What the city owes. Expenses here include depreciation (the wearing-out of things already built) and interest, but not debt principal or retirement promises. Those are on What It Owes.

Route: /money-out/ (the route kept its original name so published links still work)

Question: What has the city already promised to pay?

Headline figure: Total debt service to maturity: every bond payment still owed, principal and interest.

Where it comes from: The ACFR's debt schedules and notes. [C]

How to read it: The page shows the balances that sit on the city's books: bonded debt, debt per resident, retiree health promises (and how much of them is funded), pension obligations, and regular transfers the General Fund makes to other funds. These are stocks, not this year's spending.

What it does not tell you: Whether these promises are affordable. That depends on revenue and on what the city's assets can produce. See Future and Land.

Route: /trend/

Question: Which direction is the city moving?

Headline figure: A long-run measure of debt against the city's capacity to carry it.

Where it comes from: The ACFR's statistical section, which reports ten years of history in every edition. Stacking editions builds a longer series. [C]

How to read it: Read the line, not a single point. The page shows ratios (debt compared with revenue, for example) across many years so a good or bad year doesn't mislead.

What it does not tell you: Why the trend moved. A rising line has causes; the card shows the line and the documents, not a theory of the causes.

Route: /future/

Question: Does the city's recurring money cover what it costs to run and keep up the city?

Headline figure: The result of a coverage test: recurring own-source revenue minus operating costs, debt service and depreciation. The page shows it with and without investment earnings, because investment income swings with interest rates.

Where it comes from: The ACFR, run through the indicators behind the Strong Towns Finance Decoder: sustainability, flexibility and vulnerability. [C] figures; the framework is attributed to Strong Towns.

How to read it: A negative result means recurring revenue did not cover the full cost of running and maintaining the city that year, counting the wear on what it has built. Depreciation is included on purpose: a road that is wearing out is a cost now, even if no one writes a check for it this year.

What it does not tell you: That the city is failing. One year's result is one year. Read it with the Trend card.

Route: /tax-bill/

Question: Who actually taxes my property, and how much each?

Headline figure: The total property-tax rate a homeowner in the city pays, per $100 of taxable value, across every government that levies on the same property.

Where it comes from: Adopted rates from the county tax office and the Texas Comptroller, with the county's own primary record taking priority when sources disagree. [C]

How to read it: Most residents think of "city taxes." The bill usually carries several governments: the city, the school district, the county, the flood control district, the hospital district, a college district, the port, and others. The card stacks them so you can see each one's share.

What it does not tell you: Your personal bill. Your bill is the combined rate times your taxable value after exemptions. The card shows the rates; your appraisal notice shows your value.

### Your whole tax bill — in California

Question: Who taxes my property here, and how is my bill built?

Headline figure: The total property-tax rate in the tax rate area that covers the most parcels in this place, for the current tax year. The lowest and highest rates across all the place's tax rate areas are shown beside it.

Where it comes from: The County Auditor-Controller's published rates for each tax rate area, and the County's report of each agency's debt rates by bond, and each flat-charge program's own measure or rate resolution. [C]

How to read it: A California property-tax bill is built in three layers. 1. The 1% general levy. Every property pays it, a limit set by Proposition 13 in 1978. The County divides this 1% among local agencies. Where the County doesn't publish that split in open data with a definition, the card shows the 1% as one block and says so. 2. Voter-approved debt. Rates added on top to repay bonds that voters approved. Each is levied for the agency that issued the debt, and the card lists them by agency, with bond-level detail where the County publishes it. 3. Flat charges (direct assessments). Charges such as trash, sewer, street lighting, library, fire and flood-control assessments, billed per parcel rather than as a rate. The card lists the programs that apply in each area, each with its levying agency and the measure or rate resolution that sets its rate and basis. A program whose coverage isn't published is marked "may apply; coverage not published." Flat charges don't rise or fall with your assessed value, so on a home whose value was set long ago they can be a large part of the bill.

The rate depends on your tax rate area, a small area where the same set of agencies overlap. A city can contain many. Neighbors on either side of a city line can pay different rates because different agencies' debts apply to each side.

Why two neighbors pay different bills: your bill is your assessed value times the rate, plus flat charges. Under Proposition 13, a property's assessed value is set when it is bought or built, and it can then rise at most 2% a year. Two identical houses bought decades apart can carry very different assessed values, and so very different bills, at the same rate. The card shows rates; your notice from the Assessor shows your value.

What it does not tell you: your personal bill, whether any rate is too high, or what the agencies spend the money on (see the money cards).

Route: /land/

Question: Does each kind of land in the city pay for what it costs to serve?

Headline figure: The city's annual net result from its land: what each land use pays the city, minus the estimated cost to serve it, summed.

Where it comes from: The county appraisal district's certified tax roll (parcel values and land area), the city's ACFR (revenue and costs), and a named calculation script anyone can re-run. [C] inputs; the cost allocation is a model.

How to read it: This is the Strong Towns value-per-acre method. Each land use (houses, shops, industry and so on) is scored per acre. The map shows it: color for net result, height for productivity. Look for which uses carry the city and which draw on it.

What it does not tell you: That any land use is good or bad. Homes that net negative on a city ledger still house the people the city exists for. The card measures one thing, the city's cash, and the results depend on how service costs are assigned to parcels. The method is published so anyone can test different assumptions.

### What the land produces — in California

Question: Does each kind of land in the city pay for what it costs to serve?

Headline figure: The city's net taxable assessed value, and assessed value per acre for each kind of land use.

Where it comes from: The County Assessor's assessment roll, and the County's parcel map for area. [C] figures; the acreage method for stacked condominiums is a CLR method, marked Cond.

How to read it: - Why assessed value, not market value. Under Proposition 13, the city is paid on assessed value, so assessed value is the honest measure of what land produces for the city's budget. CLR never estimates market value. - The base-year panel. It shows how much of the city's land, and of its assessed value, carries a value set in each decade. Land whose value was set long ago pays on that old value plus at most 2% a year. Parcels with no recorded base year are shown as their own group, never guessed. - Land-use groups are the County's own categories, named as the County names them.

Watch for: - Acreage is the area of each parcel as mapped by the County, not a legal lot size. - Condominiums: many units stacked on one lot are separate parcels on the roll. The card counts the lot's area once and divides it equally among the units. Otherwise the city's acreage would more than double. - City revenue per acre isn't shown until the County publishes, with a definition, how the 1% is divided among agencies in each area.

What it does not tell you: that any land use is good or bad, or what any property would sell for.

Route: /industrial-district/ (only on towns that have one)

Question: What is the deal with the plants outside the city limits?

Headline figure: The appraised value of property in the district, which sits outside the city's tax roll.

Where it comes from: The signed industrial district agreement(s), the appraisal district's records, and the school district's roll. [C]

How to read it: Texas cities can sign industrial district agreements with companies whose land sits outside the city limits. The companies make a payment to the city in place of city taxes, and the city agrees not to annex the land for a set term. The card shows the parcels, owners, acreage, the payment formula and how the payment base is set. Where the payment base is not on the public roll, the card says so.

What it does not tell you: Whether the agreement is a good deal. It shows the terms, the dollars and the record of how it was approved.

Route: /industry/

Question: The city owns large enterprises. What do they take in and spend, and what money moves between them and the city's own budget?

Headline figure: None. The answer is a table, one row per enterprise, all from the same named fiscal year.

Where it comes from: Each enterprise's adopted budget and audited financial statements, the city's audited annual financial report, and the laws and court or agency decisions that govern each enterprise's money. [C]

How to read it: Some cities deal with nearby industry through contracts with private companies. Others own their largest economic engines outright, run as departments with their own boards and budgets: a port, an airport, a utility. Each row shows what the enterprise takes in, what it spends, and what it pays to the city's general budget, split into two kinds: - Transfers: money moved to the general budget to spend on anything. - Reimbursements: payments for city services the enterprise uses, such as police or legal work.

Each row also names the rule that limits moving the enterprise's money: - Ports on state tidelands hold their money in trust for the whole state, so it generally can't pay for local city services. - Airports that take federal grants must keep airport money for the airport. - City-owned utilities may be allowed by the city's charter to transfer part of their revenue. Where courts have ruled on such transfers, the card cites what they decided.

What it does not tell you: whether any transfer is fair, too large or too small. CLR reports what the budgets show and what courts and agencies decided. The argument over what should happen belongs to Think and Act Locally.

Route: /school-district/

Question: How does the school district that serves this town raise and spend its money?

Where it comes from: Texas Education Agency and the district's own financial reports. State accountability ratings, where shown, are the state's ratings, labeled as the state's. [C]

How to read it: Texas funds schools through a state formula. A district whose property wealth per student is above a state threshold sends part of its local tax revenue back to the state. That is called recapture (the "Robin Hood" system). The card traces how much the district has sent over time.

What it does not tell you: How good the schools are. Money and ratings are shown; a grade from the Council is not.

Route: /special-districts/

Question: What other taxing bodies operate inside the city, and who runs them?

Where it comes from: Each district's creation election, its budgets and its board records. [C]

How to read it: Texas lets voters create special-purpose districts with their own revenue, often a slice of sales tax. Common examples are a crime control and prevention district, a fire control, prevention and emergency medical services district, and an economic development corporation. Each has its own board and budget, and each can sit partly outside the council's day-to-day view. The card lists each district, its revenue source, its board and when voters must renew it.

What it does not tell you: Whether a district should exist. It shows what voters created and what it does with the money.

Route: /who-governs/

Question: Who holds office here, and who answers to whom?

Where it comes from: Official rosters, charters and election records. [C]

How to read it: A map of offices: elected officials, appointed boards, and the lines of appointment and oversight between them. Use it to find who decides a question and when their seat is next on the ballot.

What it does not tell you: How any official has performed.

Route: /record/

Question: What did the council actually vote on, and is it written down?

Where it comes from: The city secretary's agendas and minutes, and any public meeting system the city uses. [C]

How to read it: A log of votes and meeting records. Where a record is missing (no minutes, no recorded tally), the card says so plainly. A missing record is not treated as proof of wrongdoing; it is treated as a gap the public can ask to have filled. Items CLR cannot yet verify are held back ("quarantined") rather than published.

What it does not tell you: Why anyone voted as they did.

Route: /housing/

Question: Is the town adding homes, and where is housing under strain?

Headline figure: Building permits issued over a period.

Where it comes from: Permit records and U.S. Census American Community Survey estimates. ACS figures carry their reliability mark. [C]

How to read it: The permit series shows how much new housing the town is approving. The strain measures show where existing housing shows signs of distress. Small-sample estimates marked "use with care" are real but less steady; estimates too unsteady to use are withheld.

What it does not tell you: Why building rose or fell.

Route: /housing-ready/

Question: Does the town's own code allow the six housing policies Strong Towns recommends?

Where it comes from: The town's zoning and development code, quoted and cited. The six policies are Strong Towns': duplex or triplex conversion by right; backyard cottages; starter homes in all residential zones; no minimum lot sizes in existing neighborhoods; no parking mandates for housing; a streamlined approval process. [C]

How to read it: For each policy, what the code says today. The card counts how many the code already allows.

What it does not tell you: That the town should adopt any of them. The count is a measurement against Strong Towns' list, not a Council recommendation.

Route: /crashes/

Question: Where do crashes happen on the town's streets?

Where it comes from: The Texas Department of Transportation crash records system. [C]

How to read it: Crashes mapped by location and corridor. Strong Towns' Crash Analysis Studio treats a crash pattern as information about street design rather than only a question of who was at fault. The card shows the pattern.

What it does not tell you: Who caused any crash. The card makes no claim about fault.

Route: /mission/

Question: Is the town spending on keeping up what it has, or on building more?

Where it comes from: The town's capital improvement plan. [C]

How to read it: Strong Towns argues places should put maintenance ahead of expansion. The card sorts the town's planned capital spending into renewal of existing assets and new capacity, from the plan's own line items.

What it does not tell you: Which kind of spending is right for the town. A plan that leans toward maintenance is reported, not praised; one that leans toward expansion is reported, not faulted.

Route: /food-system/

Question: What does food cost here, and what do local rules allow?

Headline figure: The cost of a fixed basket of food, priced from primary and local sources.

Where it comes from: CLR's own basket pricing, plus the rules at each level of government that shape what can be grown, processed and sold. [C] where from a primary source; the basket method is published.

How to read it: Every jurisdiction level has a food card in the same shape: what the record says, the one measurement, what is about to change, and links up and down to the levels above and below. At the city level, the question is what a resident needs to sell food locally and where the friction is. At the household level, it is what food actually costs.

What it does not tell you: What to eat or buy.

Route: /homelessness/

Question: How many people here have no stable place to sleep, and where are they sleeping?

Headline figure: The number of people experiencing homelessness on the night of the annual point-in-time count, with the published margin of error beside it.

Where it comes from: The count published by the region's homeless-services authority (in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, LAHSA). [C] The published margin is shown with the figure, not left out.

How to read it: The count happens on a few nights each winter. Volunteers count people outdoors, and shelters report the people inside. The card splits the total into sheltered (in a shelter or transitional housing that night) and unsheltered (outdoors, in a vehicle, or in a tent). Compare one year's count with the next, and read the margin: a change smaller than the margin may not be a real change.

Watch for how people are counted outdoors. Volunteers often record tents, cars, vans and campers rather than people. The authority converts those structures into people with multipliers from its survey. That's why a raw tally of structures and the published count of people are different numbers. CLR publishes the authority's count of people. It publishes a neighborhood figure only once CLR can reproduce the authority's own published totals from the raw tally, exactly; until then, the neighborhood shows the gap, not a guess.

What it does not tell you: Why anyone is homeless, how long they have been, or whether a program is working. The count is one night a year. People who are staying with others temporarily, or who moved on before the count, are not in it.

Route: /palisades-rebuild/ (City of Los Angeles)

Question: After the January 2025 Palisades Fire, how many homes are being rebuilt, and how far along are they?

Headline figure: The number of new home building permits issued for fire rebuilds in the area, and how many of those homes have received a certificate of occupancy.

Where it comes from: The City's Department of Building and Safety (LADBS) permit records, published on the City's open-data portal. A permit counts as a fire rebuild when LADBS's own work description marks it as a wildfire rebuild. [C]

How to read it: Each home moves through stages: issued (the City approved the plans and the work can start) and finaled (the City issued a certificate of occupancy, so people can live there). The gap between the two is the work still underway. The card counts homes, not paperwork: one home can generate several permits (grading, electrical, a pool), so the headline counts new home permits only. The detail table shows all permit types, labeled as such.

Watch for three things: - The area. The card uses the City's planning area named "Brentwood – Pacific Palisades." That area also contains Brentwood, which the fire did not burn; the wildfire-rebuild marking is what separates fire rebuilds from other building there. No certified Neighborhood Council covers the Palisades, so there is no smaller official boundary to use. - The missing first stage. Applications that are filed but not yet approved are not in the permit records this card reads. Until CLR adds that source, the card starts at issued, and says so. - Other jurisdictions. Altadena is unincorporated LA County and Malibu is its own city. Their rebuilds run through different building departments and are not on this card.

What it does not tell you: Why a rebuild is fast or slow, what it costs, whether insurance covered it, or who owns the lot now. A permit is permission to build, not a finished home.

Route: /check-our-work/

Question: How do I know any of this is right?

What it shows: Every fact the site displayed, with its value, source and printed-page locator, generated from what actually rendered. It includes the site's own gaps and its own published corrections.

How to read it: Pick any number you doubt and open its source. If you find an error, report it. A verified correction is published with a † on the figure, and the corrections count on the dashboard goes up.