Strong Towns Finance Decoder

The Finance Decoder powers Strong Towns Chicago’s #DoTheMath initiative—a finance-first playbook for smarter local decisions. We charted 20+ years of data and challenge our local leaders to study it, then ask three plain questions of every budget, project, and policy:

  1. Sustainability: “Can Chicago sustain today’s service levels over the long term?”

  2. Flexibility: “How much budgetary slack does Chicago have to adapt to unexpected change?”

  3. Vulnerability: “How dependent is the city of Chicago on external funding?”

Net Financial Position.png
Total Assets-to-Total Liabilities.png
Net Book Value-To-Cost of Tangible Capital Assets.png
Government Transfers-To-Total Revenue.png
Financial Assets-to-Total Liabilities.png
Interest-to-Total Revenues.png
Net Debt-to-Total Revenues.png

Frustrated by these numbers?

Contact your alderperson and share these trends.

Tell them that Strong Towns principles end this cycle by focusing on small, high-return improvements—not auto-centric liabilities. Better choices mean safer streets, better transit, and fewer taxes.

Hungry for more?

Check out the sheet for yourself ➜ Google Sheet Link

And if you really want to get into the nitty gritty details ➜ Chicago’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports