EDITOR’S NOTE: Our digging into government spending takes patience, care

Turning numbers into meaning is not an easy chore when reporting about the government.

Budgets for public agencies are confusing. They have category after category, and the purpose of each is not always apparent. Most governments draw from more than one pot of money, so they set up separate funds with their own budgets. 

Don’t get me started on urban renewal district budgets, which also involve public money.

At Salem Reporter, we work diligently to bring clarity to pages and pages of numbers. After all, the money that the government is talking about is your money. Sometimes it flows directly to City Hall or the school district. Other times, your money takes a long trip to Washington, D.C., before making a return trip as a federal grant or other spending.

Recently, reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian tackled explaining the trends for spending by the city of Salem. (Salem police, fire spending skyrocketed over 2 decades while staff stayed flat, budget data shows)

Managing Editor Rachel Alexander supervised the project, so I asked Ardeshir and Rachel to explain why they did the report. They take you behind the curtain, so to speak, to see how they did it.

Rachel has previously covered city government for Salem Reporter.

“The information is timely as Salem voters are months away from a pivotal crossroads – deciding whether to approve a levy intended to prevent deep cuts to city services.”

–Ardeshir Tabrizian, reporter, Salem Reporter

“I saw repeated questions and misunderstandings about the city’s budget on various public forums, and lots of questions about public safety spending and trends in particular,” she wrote in a memo to me. “I knew with a deficit and another heated budget cycle coming up, we had a chance to add some clarity and context for readers wanting a deeper understanding of how the city spends money.”

Ardeshir echoed that.

“Salem’s police and fire chiefs have said publicly for years that their staffing hasn’t kept pace with the need. We’ve also reported extensively on the citywide budget deficit. We wanted to fact-check what Salem leaders have been saying about the state of the budget, learn how the city’s spending and staffing has evolved over time, and see how those trends compare across different departments,” he said in his note.

And the challenges of such in-depth reporting:

Ardeshir: “There is huge room for error when you’re dissecting 20 years of budget data. Tracking trends was especially difficult because some of the city services we focused on have bounced around different departments over the years. The city’s chief financial officer, Josh Eggleston, understood that challenge and provided us invaluable help in reporting the numbers accurately and consistently.”

Rachel: “Getting clarity on the parks budget was the particularly trying part of this… parks has moved departments a few times and separating that spending out from other areas was challenging. We ultimately opted to report community services spending overall.”

This kind of local reporting is lacking in many communities these days. Salem Reporter, though, understands the need for you and other readers.

“Salem is facing a lot of difficult choices right now – potential property tax increases, deep spending cuts, and lots of debate over how the city should prioritize scarce resources,” Rachel wrote. “My hope is our report will help people better lobby public officials or make choices through understanding how the city got to where it is and why some costs have grown so quickly.”

“This reporting gives Salem residents historical context for how their tax dollars have been managed over two decades and explains what factors led to the budget hole city officials are currently grappling with,” according to Ardeshir. “The information is timely as Salem voters are months away from a pivotal crossroads – deciding whether to approve a levy intended to prevent deep cuts to city services.”

Salem residents appreciated the work.

“Readers have said that our reporting provided a clear and detailed summary of the city budget’s evolution, an otherwise complex topic,” Ardeshir reported.

“We’ve gotten multiple appreciative emails from folks who like that we put the information out there for them to digest and explained complicated topics clearly, which I think shows the value of having professional reporters around,” Rachel said.

A sampling of reader comments about the story:

* ”Great job giving us the budget data, this is very useful information to provide to the public as we consider the levy and other budget issues.”

* ”Thanks for this excellent report. It provides a lot of useful information about the city’s budget history and funding dilemma.”

* “There is a lot of detail in the budget but you did a great job of summarizing it and painting a picture that the public and elected officials can understand. This is the kind of in-depth reporting that we need.”

As the city goes ahead with its tax vote, you can expect Rachel and Ardeshir and the rest of the team at Salem Reporter to provide essential information. We’re not campaigning for or against the tax levy.  We’re equipping you with information to decide the future you want for Salem.

As with the recent budget story, we’ll translate bureaucratic lingo into plain language, explain the mechanics of government funding – and show you with facts what’s ahead for Salem, depending on the outcome of the vote.