“Montgomery County’s pension and retiree health accounts are facing a long-term shortfall of $4.8 billion, and officials repeatedly have pulled back from difficult decisions needed to close the gap.” — Washington Post, “Leggett, Montgomery County unions spar over pension costs.“

We’re seeing more and more articles like these. Tough budget times mean almost unthinkable budget decisions, and we’ve seen across the nation how heated the arguments can get.

There is no magic formula for making the pain of these decisions go away.  And local situations are best suited to local decision-making. But using data can at least give you a solid basis for making and explaining painful decisions.

One resource you’ll want to look at during the process is “Cutting to the bone: How the economic crisis affects schools,” especially the sidebar on the state of state retirement plans.  Another is our new Web site, Data First. You’ll find an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand guide to finding the data you need. –Rebecca St. Andrie