Local fiscal health project

State & Hill

25 years of CLOSUP

Apr 11, 2026

When the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission faced a tidal wave of public input—more than 30,000 comments—the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) and Ford School students stepped in. Their analysis helped the commiss...

CLOSUP Updates

June 4, 2025 Webinar | A new tool for digitizing municipal financial reporting

May 19, 2025

On June 4, 2025, the University of Michigan’s CLOSUP team and the Michigan Open Source Software (MOSS) initiative hosted a Zoom webinar on Digitizing municipal financial reporting: A new open source tool for Excel - XBRL conversion. The speakers were...

magnifying glass over part of a balance sheet, with calculator and pen

News

U-M develops free tool to empower municipalities, modernize financial reporting

May 19, 2025

Free webinar June 4 will demo the Excel to iXBRL Conversion toolA free, open-source tool designed by the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy is now available to help local governments make financial data more accessible. Developed ...

U-M develops free tool to empower municipalities, modernize financial reporting

Alumni spotlight, State & Hill

Building tech to support small towns: U-M team develops digital tool for SEC compliance

May 9, 2025

When Congress passed the Financial Data and Transparency Act (FDTA) in 2022, it required all municipalities in the U.S. to modernize and digitize their financial reports. This is a heavy lift for small towns and school districts, most of which still ...

Building tech to support small towns: U-M team develops digital tool for SEC compliance

State & Hill

Quantum leap

May 3, 2023

City of Flint and CLOSUP work toward transparency in municipal financial reporting By Daniel Rivkin When City of Flint CFO Rob Widigan looks at his required annual financial reporting to the state of Michigan, he sighs. His department needs to com...

Publication

New law on data transparency will improve governance - Leiser

Dec 20, 2022

Increasing transparency in how local government works got a boost when the U.S. Congress passed the Financial Data Transparency Act (FDTA) on December 15, 2022. The act requires the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt data standards related t...

New law on data transparency will improve governance - Leiser

In the Media

Leiser on building a better local government financial reporting system

Aug 23, 2022 The Bond Buyer

Through a Michigan pilot program, Stephanie Leiser and the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy are building a taxonomy for machine-readable local government financial documents. "Transparency into local government fiscal health is needed to ...

Stephanie Leiser: Helping local goverments in Michigan become healthier and more resilient

News

CLOSUP in consortium launching review of Flint government financial data standards

Jun 15, 2022

Governments, standard setters, regulators and analysts encouraged to provide input A pilot project involving the University of Michigan and others is exploring whether a new fiscal reporting mechanism for governmental entities can help create trans...

CLOSUP in consortium launching review of Flint government financial data standards

CLOSUP Updates

New Report: A Twenty-year Review of Flint’s Financial Condition

Jun 8, 2022

A new report from CLOSUP illustrates how data found in basic financial statements may be used to understand how Flint’s financial condition has changed over time. We draw on data from Flint’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports from FY 2000 to tod...

News

A 20-year review of Flint finances shows consequences of lack of investment

Jun 8, 2022

The turmoil surrounding the City of Flint, MI – most infamously the Flint Water Crisis – has become a cautionary tale for other Rust Belt cities struggling to balance their budgets, provide services, and attract new business. A 20-year review of the ...

In the Media

How we should think about the government's budget - Leiser

Mar 14, 2022 WXYZ

Many Americans use the analogy of a pie to think about the government budget. But, Sarah Leiser, lecturer of public policy and leader of the Michigan Local Government Fiscal Health Project at CLOSUP, says there's another way to think about it. "It ...

News

University of Michigan and the City of Flint partner on new fiscal reporting pilot program for transparency, better governance

Dec 1, 2021

The water crisis in Flint and the bankruptcy in Detroit were separate events that had a common theme -- they had been caused in part by fiscal challenges decades in the making. Avoiding similar tragedies in the future could be tied to greater transpa...

Digitizing municipal financial reporting: A new open source tool for Excel - XBRL conversion

Jun 4, 2025, 3:00-4:30 pm EDT

The University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) teamed up with DAC Bond to develop a free, open source proof of concept tool that will allow users to convert the data in their Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports from Excel/Word format into XBRL, a leading open source data standard for financial reporting.

CLOSUP Lecture Series

PubPol 715 guest speaker Janani Ramachandran Yates on public budgeting and finance planning

Feb 8, 2023, 2:30-3:50 pm EST

Weill Hall, Betty Ford Classroom (1110)

The Ford School’s Michigan Public Budgeting and Finance Planning class invites Ford students to join them for a conversation with guest speaker Janani Ramachandran Yates, Deputy Budget Director of the City of Detroit (and Ford School alum).

Government financial reporting - Data standards and the financial data transparency act

Jan 24, 2023, 3:00-4:00 pm EST

Join XBRL US for a session to explore government data standards, find out how governments can create their own machine-readable financial statements, and discover what impact this legislation could have on government entities. Most importantly, discover how machine-readable data standards can benefit state and local government entities by reducing costs and increasing access to time-sensitive information for policy making.

Case Studies

Rural Economic Diversification and Fiscal Stability: A Case Study of Lake County, MI

September 12, 2025

Yu-Yu Lin, Steve Kraft

This case study provides an in-depth analysis of the fiscal health and economic condition of Lake County, a rural Michigan community with a tourism-based economy. The county government’s fiscal position is stable in the short term, characterized by s...

Case Studies

Legacy, Land, and Unity: A Case Study of Idlewild, Michigan

September 12, 2025

Steve Kraft

This case study examines Idlewild, Michigan, a community of profound historic significance actively working to secure a sustainable future. The analysis finds that the path to economic revitalization hinges on navigating the complex challenges of for...

Case Studies

Exploring Internal Capacity Building Strategies in Small Municipalities: A Case Study of Evart, Michigan

September 12, 2025

Ava Hoffman

This case study investigates how capacity building can influence the fiscal health of small municipalities, focusing on the experience of Evart, Michigan. Evart faces challenges common to many rural communities, including limited financial resources,...

Case Studies

Fiscal Health in Rural Counties: A Case Study of Ogemaw County, MI

September 9, 2022

Stephanie Leiser, Maximilian Hill

This case study examines the fiscal health of Ogemaw County, Michigan, a mostly rural county in the northeast lower peninsula of Michigan, using data from the County’s annual audited financial reports. We find that while Ogemaw County has struggled w...

Case Studies

Fiscal Health in Rural Communities: A Case Study of Pine River Township, Michigan

September 9, 2022

Stephanie Leiser, Maximilian Hill, Margaret Walthall

This case study examines the fiscal health of Pine River Township, Michigan, a mostly rural community in central Michigan, using data from the Township’s audited financial reports. We find that Pine River Township has a sizable and growing General Fu...

Fiscal Health Reports

A Twenty-year Review of Flint’s Financial Condition

June 8, 2022

Stephanie Leiser, Shu Wang, James L. Tatum III

Over the past twenty years, few cities have experienced as much fiscal stress as Flint, Michigan. After decades of economic decline, two periods of state receivership, the water crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Flint is trying to shore ...

Case Studies

Assessing Local Fiscal Health in Tourist Cities in Michigan

June 30, 2021

Christen Richardson and Capri Backus, Policy Analysts

This case study takes an in-depth look at the fiscal health stress of two tourist cities (City X and City Y) using a wide range of financial and demographic factors as well as findings from the Michigan Public Policy Survey. This case study highlight...

Case Studies

Local Government Fiscal Health & Deindustrialization in Michigan

May 30, 2021

Elizabeth Chon and Capri Backus, Policy Analysts

In this case study, we analyze the financial health and Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) responses for two municipalities in Michigan: Cities X and Y. Although both municipalities experienced industrial decline throughout the late 20th century, C...

Case Studies

A Tale of Two Counties: Reconciling Differences in Fiscal Stress Across Similar Rural Communities in Michigan

January 30, 2021

Anthony J. Martinez and Capri Backus

This case study compares two municipalities (Counties X & Y) with similar demographic characteristics and economic growth trajectories across objective and subjective indicators of fiscal health. After studying the financials of Counties X and Y, we ...

Flint Financial Data: 2000-2021

As part of CLOSUP's project to modernize financial reporting and transparency in Michigan, we have used data from 20 years of Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports (ACFRs) in the City of Flint to conduct a detailed review of Flint's financial condit...

XBRL Public Review - Quick Explainer Video

Jun 16, 2022 0:02:11

CLOSUP and its nonprofit partner XBRL US are developing a new open data standard, based on eXtensible Business Language Reporting (XBRL), to modernize and digitize Michigan local government financial reporting. XBRL formatted financial statements are...

XBRL Public Review - Quick Explainer Video

Stephanie Leiser: Helping local goverments in Michigan become healthier and more resilient

Sep 7, 2021 0:03:32

Stephanie Leiser, lecturer in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, discusses the Local Fiscal Health Project, an initiative of the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy to help local governments navigate fiscal challenges.