Plain English Fiscal Reports: You Deserve to Know Where Your Money Goes

Most people have no idea what their local government's real financial situation looks like. That's not an accident. Balance sheets are buried in jargon. Debts are hidden. Long-term obligations are obscured. That's how irresponsible spending goes unchecked, year after year.

David Hughes believes sunlight is the best disinfectant. When taxpayers see the truth, they demand accountability.

The Problem

Right now, if you want to understand your township's financial health, you'd need an accounting degree to make sense of the reports. Annual financial statements are written in technical language that serves accountants and auditors — not the taxpayers who are actually footing the bill.

This is by design. When officials can hide behind complexity, they can spend without consequence. When debt is buried in footnotes, nobody asks questions until it's too late. David saw this firsthand in Exeter Township, where $107 million evaporated while most residents had no idea what was happening.

David's Solution: Plain English Fiscal Reports

Goal: Require every Pennsylvania municipality to publish an annual "Plain English Fiscal Report" — no jargon, no fine print. Published online and mailed to every resident. 100% compliance.

Timeline: Legislation introduced in David's first session. Full implementation within one year of passage.

What the reports would show:

Total debt per household in plain numbers. Unfunded pension liabilities. Five-year budget projections. Comparisons to similar communities. Every tax increase over the past five years. A clear breakdown of where your money actually goes.

Simple, Low-Cost, Massive Impact

This isn't a complicated proposal. It's a simple reporting requirement that costs almost nothing to implement but transforms the relationship between government and taxpayers. When you know the truth about your community's finances, you can hold your officials accountable.

No more hiding behind technical language. No more burying bad news in footnotes. Just the truth, in words everyone can understand.

That's not radical — it's common sense. And it's exactly the kind of transparency David Hughes will fight for in Harrisburg.