The Ins and Outs of Your City Budget
Calls to defund the police have sparked interest in city budgets. Here’s an illustrated guide to what you should know.
Illustration by Ariel Aberg-Riger
Illustration by Ariel Aberg-Riger
Editor's Note: Amid a surge of interest in police budgets, CityLab’s visual storyteller Ariel Aberg-Riger takes on the sometimes-impenetrable city budget process: Why it's so hard to understand, ways to make it more accessible, and clues to being a better budget advocate.
Further Reading:
- “Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in our Communities,” Center for Popular Democracy
- Explore city budget visualizations: Philadelphia, Oakland, Arlington
- “Citizen's Guide to Local Budgets,” New York State Comptroller's Office
- “This is How Much Major Cities Prioritize Police Spending Versus Everything Else,” GQ
- “The ‘People’s Budget’ Movement Behind LA's Decision to Cut its Police Budget,” CityLab
- “The Cities Taking Up Calls to Defund the Police,” CityLab
- Listen: “Would Defunding the Police Make Us Safer?” The Atlantic
- “How the Coronavirus Will Harm State and City Budgets,” Council on Foreign Relations
- “Movement to Defund Police Gains 'Unprecedented' Support across US,” Guardian
