Local Governments do not have the lavish streams of revenue they had just a few years ago, read it all here. Property tax revenues are stagnant or falling. Citizens will not approve new taxes, and depopulation or foreclosures have hit hard.
Cities by and large still seem to be resorting to old tricks to punish voters who won't fork over more money to finance bloated city budgets.
The typical response from City Hall is to declare "the budget has been cut to the bone" and start laying off teachers, police, firemen, or cutting back on libraries, street lights, or sanitation workers. Note that administrations never get cut, pensions don't get cut, benefits don't get cut as those are "obligations".
The voters need to send clear signals to their local governments on what they think are "obligations" or not. I bet the voters have a different take on that.
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