Collect city documents to find the source of budget shortfalls

By Flickr user Marcin Wichary

Not every financial failure can be attributed to the recession. Despite North Kansas City’s “cash-rich reputation,” its more than $10 million budget shortfall came from spending sprees, writes Steve Everly and intern Allison Prang of the Kansas City Star.

The city has a “reputation for gold-plated finances thanks to being home to a casino that provides millions of dollars in taxes annually,” Steve says. “Amenities such as a fiber-optic network owned by the city and the largest community center in the area were widely envied.”

Steve Everly

Steve learned of the city’s financial problems after writing about the possibility of the city selling its hospital. After a tip, he and Allison reviewed North Kansas City’s budget, he says. With so many different funds and budgets, it was difficult to determine how serious the financial problems were so they sought the help of accountants.  

“But we needed more and started to collect additional city documents,” Steve says. “The documents weren’t just numbers. There were reports that analyzed the city’s financial situation and minutes of meetings, sometimes verbatim, gave more details.”

The next step was to determine what had happened, he says. They interviewed residents, former and current city officials, and people with business ties to the city.

“The interviews provided color and details about how the casino windfall triggered lavish spending, including on projects that now have operating losses the city can no longer afford to subsidize.”

Steve says the story took a month to complete as he balanced it with daily stories.