A majority of America’s largest cities are broke and unable to meet their liabilities, according to a new analysis.
In its eighth annual Financial State of the Cities report, the right-leaning think tank Truth in Account determined that as of 2022, 53 of the country’s 75 largest cities have fewer assets than liabilities.
The report notes:
At the end of the fiscal year 2022, 53 cities did not have enough money to pay all of their bills. This means that to claim their budgets were balanced—as is required by law in the 75 cities—elected officials have not included the actual costs of the government in their budget calculations and have pushed costs onto future taxpayers.
Together, the 75 cities had $307.4 billion worth of assets available to pay bills; their debt, including unfunded retirement benefit promises, amounted to $595.3 billion. Pension debt totaled $175.9 billion, and…
