No matter what I think of "Simple Architect" Tom Butt, and I do have thoughts, I have to admit that now and then he earns his feed. The latest is his cross-city comparison of revenue sources and expenditure categories.

Buried in his email blast is the real headline: "Of the fourteen cities compared, Richmond has the third highest general fund revenue…" At $1063 per capita, only Berkeley and Palo Alto exceed it.

Tom has made preliminary details available on a PDF sheet to his E-Forum email list. (I suppose it'll appear on his site soon.)

He could earn his dessert by supplying the original Excel worksheet so anyone could chop, slice, and dice.

With the true fiscal picture now in view, how does he feel now about backing Measure Q, the sales-tax increase? Is he "shocked! shocked!" at these results?