If you’re an American…which I’m assuming most of you are, then you know that we’re in a ton of debt and that we are in huge need of a credit counseling solution.

School tuition and governmental overspending account for a lot of it.

Recently, a study was conducted by a government watchdog Truth in Accounting.

Forbes reported,

American taxpayers have a much heavier debt burden than they are aware of. How and when municipalities publish their financial accounts varies greatly throughout the United States. A significant number of U.S. municipalities do not publish all the liabilities that their residents have such as housing and transit authorities and school districts.  Unfortunately, this means that taxpayers are not aware of the entire extent of their cities’ liabilities, which all too often are unfunded. At some point, residents will be sorely disappointed when their taxes have to be raised significantly or when their services are cut; worse yet, numerous municipalities are in such bad shape, that there is a strong likelihood that residents could well be facing tax hikes and service cuts simultaneously.

The results found which American city actually has the best and worst .

The results of the study were as follows:

• Chicago’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $119,110
• New York City’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $85,600
• Los Angeles’ combined Taxpayer Burden: $56,390
• Philadelphia’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $50,120
• San Jose’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $43,120
• San Diego’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $35,410
• Dallas’ combined Taxpayer Burden: $33,490
• Houston’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $22,940
• San Antonio’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $16,660
• Phoenix’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $13,290 ​​​​

According to Fox News,

Forbes reported that the city’s taxpayer burden is attached to unfunded retirement obligations amassed over of a number of years: $39 billion in retirement benefits have been promised; $28 billion in pension and $842.9 million in retiree health care benefits haven’t been funded.

Lower in debt were Los Angeles and Philadelphia; Los Angeles’ combined Taxpayer Burden: $56,390; Philadelphia’s combined Taxpayer Burden: $50,120.

“The largest cities in the U.S. issue so-called ‘Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports,’ but most of them aren’t so comprehensive,” Bill Bergman, Truth in Accounting’s director of research, told Fox News via email.

The report questioned if cities’ annual financial reports “comprehensively track municipal accounts such as school districts, transit agencies, utility systems, etc.”