Finding · National
Half of America's counties have no one left covering city hall
Local newspapers are vanishing — and government spending grows fastest where nobody is watching.
Read more →Nobody is watching how your local government spends your money.We are.
LGAI conducts independent, forensic reviews of city and county spending. Every number comes from public records — check our work.
The government works for the people. We make sure it remembers.
Show up with the receipts
Every LGAI investigation exists so a citizen can walk into a room like this holding the record — and ask a question the officials have to answer.
Show up with the receipts
Every LGAI investigation exists so a citizen can walk into a room like this holding the record — and ask a question the officials have to answer.
The Method
- Investigate
- Verify
- Identify Responsibility
- Recommend Solutions
- Increase Citizenship Value
Citizenship Value: Better services. Responsible costs. Transparent decisions. Accountable government.
What We Do
The government hires the consultant. Nobody works for you.
So we do. Six steps, every investigation, no side taken until the numbers take one.
01
Open the books
Every record is public. We read them all.
02
Spot what’s off
Like your bank statement — against better-run counties.
03
Find who did it
Minutes and votes name them. Someone signed.
04
Check who paid them
Donors beside contracts. You decide.
05
Publish all of it
Sourced. Named. Put in front of your neighbors.
06
Hand you the fix
What to cut, automate, refinance — with dollars attached.
Latest Findings
What we've found
Finding · Technology
Private companies cut costs with AI. Most local governments hired more managers instead.
You pay the difference on your property-tax bill.
Investigations · 7 Communities
Seven communities. One question: where did the money go?
Active forensic reviews from Florida to Colorado — every finding sourced to public records.
We don’t run candidates. We don’t take sides. We publish the record — and the record picks a side on its own.
The Standard
Government that works like the things that work
Your pizza arrives in thirty minutes with GPS tracking. Your building permit takes eight weeks and a phone tree. Your bank app moves money in seconds. Your county can't tell you where your property taxes went. It doesn't have to be this way — and in the best-run governments, it already isn't. We find what's broken, show you who's responsible, and hand your community the plan private enterprise would use to fix it.
8–18%
savings from automation alone, in targeted admin functions
60%
cut in permit processing time — Hamilton, Ontario
$730K
saved by one city automating invoice processing — Winnipeg
The buildings are public. So are the budgets that run them — and the record of who decided what.Illustrative editorial image — not an actual LGAI investigation.
Announcement · July 2026
LGAI opens its Cambridge office in Kendall Square
Our data and research operation now works steps from MIT — building the tools that make government spending impossible to hide.
Read the announcement →
Our Method
The same test, every time
Seven areas. Public records. A method any citizen can check — or run themselves. We read the whole record the same way in every community, so the findings hold up and the comparison is fair.
- Fiscal Management
- Staffing and Compensation
- Service Demand and Demographics
- Procurement and Contracting
- Technology and Productivity
- Political Disclosures and Governance
- Engagement & Impact
How the pieces fit
Six lenses
1Fiscal
2Headcount
3Service Demand
4Procurement
5Technology
6Political
The Investigation File
one evidentiary record
Findings Document
Public Dashboard
Citizen Briefing
7. Impact Measurement
Did the findings change behavior? The answer feeds back into the six lenses — closing the loop.
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20 of 25
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Where it lands: the public meeting, where a sourced record becomes a question officials have to answer.Illustrative editorial image — not an actual LGAI investigation.
Think your town is next?
Citizens bring us the communities we investigate. Tell us what doesn't add up — and, if you can, help fund the work.
Independent. No government money. No candidate money. Every finding sourced.
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