What is this thing?
The Balanced Sheet is a production of Watson & Yates, a small consulting firm run by local budget nerds in Detroit, Michigan. We provide timely, expert analyses of fiscal and budgetary developments relevant to the State of Michigan and its local communities, with a special focus on the City of Detroit and Southeast Michigan.
Our content shifts with the seasons, but throughout the year you’ll find insights on federal, state, and city-level fiscal issues. If you value clear, informed commentary and analysis delivered straight to your inbox, we encourage you to subscribe.
What do we post about?
Our post schedule includes content on the following topics, and more:
2025
November and December:
Federal Budget impacts on Michigan and Detroit
2026
January:
State of Michigan Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference
City of Detroit Mayoral Transition
February:
Governor’s Proposed Budget
Detroit Economic Forecast
Detroit Revenue Conference
March:
Detroit Mayor’s Proposed Budget
Detroit City Council Budget Hearings
April:
Budget negotiations in Detroit
City of Detroit Final Budget
May:
State of Michigan Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference
Michigan House and Senate Proposed Budgets
June:
State of Michigan Final Budget
Plus: Our independent takes on the emergent fiscal policy ideas that are the talk of Detroit and Lansing. From property tax reform to school aid, we’ve got informed technical commentary that you’ll want to read.
What comes with the premium subscription?
In addition to all of our free posts, paid subscribers get access to downloadable datasets related to our work on federal earmarks, State of Michigan earmarks, tax abatements, revenue forecasts, and more.
A paid subscription is just $5 per month or $50 per year. This helps support the research, writing, and data preparation that goes into every edition of The Balanced Sheet.
Why are you doing this?
Think of this as a more structured evolution of Steve Watson’s 4AM legislative analysis emails. If you ever received one of those dispatches and found it useful, you’ll love our Substack.
In all seriousness, we believe Michigan lacks accessible, independent, and technically sound budget analysis – especially the kind that is distributed quickly and transparently enough to be actionable for local officials, business owners, and engaged voters. That’s why we created a platform that allows us to prioritize and invest in this work. Because it’s important, and because we believe that clarity and nuance lead to better decisions.
Why should you trust us?
Steve Watson is a former Budget Director and Deputy CFO for the City of Detroit under Mayor Mike Duggan. Before that, he built and led the City’s groundbreaking Revenue and Economic Analysis team, and he designed and implemented the Retiree Protection Fund, an innovative financial strategy that prevented Detroit from falling off its post-bankruptcy “pension cliff.” Steve quite literally eats, sleeps, and breathes public finance. He has been known to unironically describe the release of annual budget bills as “Christmas morning.”
Janani Ramachandran Yates has worked in senior budget leadership roles for two different 3-term Mayors: Mike Duggan in Detroit and Muriel Bowser in the District of Columbia. She was the Deputy Budget Director in Detroit from 2021 - 2024, and she was the Associate Budget Director for Capital in DC from 2018 – 2021. She’s a huge good-government nerd and advocate, and she really, really hates wasting taxpayer money.
Katrina Wheelan and Abdulla Tarabishy help us run this Substack, provide research and editorial support, and make all our graphics. They are both extremely bright and extremely tolerant of us.
