
The size of each box, naturally, represents the size of the expenditure in the selected year (by default, 2010). The color of the box indicates how that expense compares to some other year: by default, 2009. You can choose which years to compare with the pop-up menus below the chart. You can also zoom in on one of the three broad categories of expenditures by right-clicking.
The thing that really jumps out to me is that payroll and outside services are the biggest parts of the cost - together almost half the total price - and that payroll doubled from 2009 to 2010 to a magnificent $7 million. It seems (to a largely uninformed outsider) like the best thing Burning Man could do to keep ticket prices in check would be if they could find a way to get more volunteers -- not just at the event, but year-round.
The recent creation of the non-profit Burning Man Project might help encourage volunteers, as well as reduce the company's taxes, which are a decent chunk of the price as well. But mostly, I hope the change of organizational structure encourages a new way of thinking about how to run such a community-driven event. (Could Burning Man's website be written and managed by a team of volunteers? Could some portion of legal research and aid be volunteered by lawyer burners? If the organization dumped its raw financial data online for all to see, could some curious geeks do much of their accounting for them? In short, how could greater transparency, and adoption of the 10 principals by the organization itself, lead to lower costs?)