JLF has just released its latest report —-What Government Costs in North Carolina Cities and Counties FY 2010. Press release here; report here.
Sift through the numbers if you like. No surprise that the cost of gov’t is high among the most populous counties, including Guilford and Forsyth. But here’s the bottom line:
What is the proper role of local government? What are essential services, and what are unnecessary frills? North Carolina’s families must face those kinds of questions every day in determining what are the essential expenses and unnecessary frills for their own households. Most people would probably agree that local government’s core services are fire, police, and sanitation. But would they agree that core services also include taxpayers’ subsidies to golf courses, convention centers, whitewater parks, and even restaurants? Especially in times of economic recession, these questions become even more important.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at how we do business here in G’boro —-$200k for a downtown Mexican restaurant while the City Council struggles with cost savings on municipal waste it ships to another county with gas prices soaring. Meanwhile, a landfill with many years capacity sits underused.
