How Fiscal Restraint Affects Spending and Services in Cities
ResearchPublished 1982
ResearchPublished 1982
During the 1970s, measures enacted in California, Kansas, and New Jersey limited localities' taxing and spending powers. Spending by nine of the ten city governments studied did not conclusively decline after fiscal limitation, probably because of state and federal grants to them. Nor was the tax revolt especially directed at so-called "inessential" agencies, such as libraries. When retrenchment did occur, the levels of key public services declined despite efforts to improve efficiency.
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