Production?

[DuX1112]

So I thought that if I build "Special Industry" facilities (poultry, carrots, timber etc.) that I will actually make money for my city's budget. I was getting in deep deficits, so almost nothing worked (neither raising taxes nor reducing all expenditures to 50%), so I saw that I had a huge forest, and I thought, "Wait, this menu says production... And I have deficits. So I need surplus to make money. Nice! Let me plop down 5 timber facilities."

Well, 20 mins later, they are all operating at 100%+, and I am getting over 100 tonnes of surplus timber per month, BUT, I have zero money from it...

Why? Isn't it supposed to be exported and I get money from selling it? What is going on? I think my city is connected to the external world through at least 1 road, right? When you start a map there is a road. So a connection is there but I am not getting any money from sales. And the game is terrible at showing this (it basically isn't showing any numbers!)

Can anyone tell me... Also any other ways to boost my city's budget, if not through businesses and industries? No export?

Thanks.

[Spill]

See under taxes, you get money from product like Timber. It also get used by industry to make products like furniture. That is sold in commercial. The less that is imported or exported, the more tax you get as they run a bigger profit.

That how I think its suppose to work. But it might be bugged as people some are saying

[ExavierMacbeth]

I think the problem is a misunderstanding of "exports"... You as the city/mayor don't own those timber industries... The company that moved in does & they are the ones exporting. Best you will see is a minor increase in the taxes they pay the city.

The only pure export that appears to go directly to city funds in CS2 are Service exports (Power, Water, etc) and only surplus power seems to really make a difference to early game incomes but unless you are exporting 100MW your mostly just covering the upkeep of the power plant & maybe 1-2 other service buildings. Its not alot of income.

I think whats really driving me nuts is the Budget is in "Per Month" but the money ticker is "Per Hour" which makes it hard to see noticeable differences in your income.

[OZZO]

It's hard to advise without seeing your game, so besides the things that you already tried, have a look at the big spenders and just bulldoze it.
For instance, garbage treatment costs a LOT and the effect it has on the city is actually negligent (at least to some higher levels of the city). This could help you save money here and now.

[Hert the Fisherman]

Originally posted by ExavierMacbeth:

I think the problem is a misunderstanding of "exports"... You as the city/mayor don't own those timber industries... The company that moved in does & they are the ones exporting. Best you will see is a minor increase in the taxes they pay the city.

The only pure export that appears to go directly to city funds in CS2 are Service exports (Power, Water, etc) and only surplus power seems to really make a difference to early game incomes but unless you are exporting 100MW your mostly just covering the upkeep of the power plant & maybe 1-2 other service buildings. Its not alot of income.

I think whats really driving me nuts is the Budget is in "Per Month" but the money ticker is "Per Hour" which makes it hard to see noticeable differences in your income.

You got to remember that every 24 hrs is a month. So that basically is the daily figure in the budget you then divide it by 24 to get the hourly rate.

[ExavierMacbeth]

Originally posted by Hert the Fisherman:

You got to remember that every 24 hrs is a month. So that basically is the daily figure in the budget you then divide it by 24 to get the hourly rate.

lol I understand that... I just don't see why they can't standardize it across the various menus so we don't have to juggle math everytime we want to a better understanding of our income :)

I get enough tedious stuff like that from my RL job lol

[DuX1112]

Originally posted by Hert the Fisherman:

Originally posted by ExavierMacbeth:

I think the problem is a misunderstanding of "exports"... You as the city/mayor don't own those timber industries... The company that moved in does & they are the ones exporting. Best you will see is a minor increase in the taxes they pay the city.

The only pure export that appears to go directly to city funds in CS2 are Service exports (Power, Water, etc) and only surplus power seems to really make a difference to early game incomes but unless you are exporting 100MW your mostly just covering the upkeep of the power plant & maybe 1-2 other service buildings. Its not alot of income.

I think whats really driving me nuts is the Budget is in "Per Month" but the money ticker is "Per Hour" which makes it hard to see noticeable differences in your income.

You got to remember that every 24 hrs is a month. So that basically is the daily figure in the budget you then divide it by 24 to get the hourly rate.

Huh, I didn't know that... Is it explained anywhere?

[DuX1112]

Originally posted by OZZO:

It's hard to advise without seeing your game, so besides the things that you already tried, have a look at the big spenders and just bulldoze it.
For instance, garbage treatment costs a LOT and the effect it has on the city is actually negligent (at least to some higher levels of the city). This could help you save money here and now.

I am loathe to bulldoze a hospital and a power plant... I'll also run out of power if I bulldoze the powerplant. :D I have a Landfill. But without it won't things get bad?

[DuX1112]

Originally posted by ExavierMacbeth:

I think the problem is a misunderstanding of "exports"... You as the city/mayor don't own those timber industries... The company that moved in does & they are the ones exporting. Best you will see is a minor increase in the taxes they pay the city.

The only pure export that appears to go directly to city funds in CS2 are Service exports (Power, Water, etc) and only surplus power seems to really make a difference to early game incomes but unless you are exporting 100MW your mostly just covering the upkeep of the power plant & maybe 1-2 other service buildings. Its not alot of income.

I think whats really driving me nuts is the Budget is in "Per Month" but the money ticker is "Per Hour" which makes it hard to see noticeable differences in your income.

Yeah this makes sense, I was aware that's how it is in real life but hoped the game would be slightly different lol, or at least the tax revenues from those industries would be more significant. So other than those ways, what other way is there to increase my city budget? Aside from increasing taxes or cutting expenses?

As for exporting power and water, how do those work? Are you connected by default or do I need to build a connection? Thanks.

[icedude94]

The specialized industries provide cheaper material for your industry zones than imports, allowing them to profit more and level up faster. Higher level industries consume less utilities and employ higher educated workers. The higher educated workers is the biggest part of growing your tax base.

Educated workers pay a lot more in taxes and higher level industries employ more people. You really really want your industries and commercial zones to level up in this game to stay afloat financially.

The game actually allows you to set negative taxes for zones to subsidize them so that they grow and level up faster.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3061914668

[DuX1112]

Originally posted by icedude94:

The specialized industries provide cheaper material for your industry zones than imports, allowing them to profit more and level up faster. Higher level industries consume less utilities and employ higher educated workers. The higher educated workers is the biggest part of growing your tax base.

Educated workers pay a lot more in taxes and higher level industries employ more people. You really really want your industries and commercial zones to level up in this game to stay afloat financially.

The game actually allows you to set negative taxes for zones to subsidize them so that they grow and level up faster.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3061914668

Good reply, thank you. So I need the SEs for the betterment of my commercial/industrial sectors. Which gets me more tax I assume?

However, there are hardly any resources usually in the first starting zones... I am on city 2, and the nearest ore deposits are like 3-4 tiles away. 🤔 Aside from just growing livestock or chopping wood, many of the other resources seem gatekept by distant plots of land. Or is that maybe just my luck so far? Or choosing the wrong maps? Thanks.

[icedude94]

Cheaper resources will help them level up faster but it's not a requirement. The specialized raw material industry buildings are entirely optional. As long as businesses are able to do what they need to do and their workforce is happy, they'll all level up with time.
Edit:
You don't pay for the imports. The businesses do. You can run your entire city on imports if you want. The huge capacities of the buildings like the cargo port and the way they bring in massed quantities of every good and stockpile it at the port like a warehouse supports a raw resource import heavy economy.