The economy is now genuinely challenging

Residents have enjoyed pretty comfortable times for a while now, but the city hall accountants finally decided to step in. A big change to the economy: you no longer get rich by accident. The budget has to stay balanced, which finally makes running the city a real puzzle.

What changed this time?

• The city no longer earns direct production income from businesses. Factory and shop output is their own private profit (it still builds their wealth). The city earns from businesses only through the industry and commerce taxes – so taxes are now the core of your income. Welcome to the wonderful world of the tax office.
• Upkeep costs doubled – services now cost real money. Schools, the health station and everything else don't run on good intentions and coffee, you see. Combined with removing production income, this means: you no longer get rich by accident.

What to do

• Raise the industry/commerce tax – but remember: too much kills production, and factory bosses are surprisingly good at doing the math.
• Tune the income tax and service funding. That is, sit with the sliders for a bit and pretend you understand economics.
• New games start with 10% business taxes already in place.

In short: passive enrichment is over, now you actually have to govern the city. Sorry about that.