my settlements keep going in debt

[PittBull260]

i mean i duno WTF to do, it just pisses me off. the tax rate is very high, i built all the farming and mines etc, i have a governor for the settlement, i have a decent army in it....and it's STILL gettin negative money annualy....WTF!?!?!??!?!

[Fate]

I'll tell you why. These settlements are probably large to huge in size right? Well, all of your empires costs are split up by settlement size, so those that have large populations end up paying a huge cost of the military upkeep, which outweighs what you earn. You do still earn money from your farming, trade and mining, but with such a large military, the wages have to be paid from somewhere, and it makes sense for it to come from large settlements!

[Charge]

This is a really stupid feature. Happy that they axed it off in M2. Bigger & richer city - bigger minus income (shows) lol :)

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Hi PittBull260,
Due to the issue which Fate mentioned, I often find that the "End of Turn Details Scroll", which pops up on the left side of the screen, is a more accurate picture of your empire's financial situation. Looking at the supposed income from settlements, as in the figure shown on the strategy map, can be rather misleading.

If you do want to work out a settlements true income, you can do so by looking at the settlement details scroll. To access it, double click on the settlement you want to examine, and select the second (or possibly third) button down in the scroll's bottom left hand corner.

Once you've accessed this area, look at the lowest section (income). Simply use the figure provided on the side of the top bar, and then subtract all the figures provided when you hover your mouse over the icon sets in the bottom bar. Remember to exclude military expendeture in this bit, or you just gain the inaccurate figure provided on the strategy map.

Bear in mind, that there is no such thing as a settlement that is losing money. Every settlement always contributes to your empire, although the amounts do vary.

Hope this helps you, cheers!

[Charge]

Aren't they can take money away from you due to big corruption?

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

Aren't they can take money away from you due to big corruption?

From my experiences, corruption never seems to exceed income so a profit still can be made. It can take a hefty chunk out of settlement profits though, but I don't think that corruption alone could result in utter devastation of the treasury.