Budget Crisis Taking Toll on City Services

The New York Times provides three major examples of how governments are coping with budget shortfalls - with education, public transit and public safety taking significant hits:

"Faced with the steepest and longest decline in tax collections on record, state, county and city governments have resorted to major life-changing cuts in core services like education, transportation and public safety that, not too long ago, would have been unthinkable. And services in many areas could get worse before they get better. Around the country, there have already been drastic cuts in core services like education, transportation and public safety, and there are likely to be more before the downturn ends.

Around the country, public transportation has taken a beating during the downturn. Fares typically cover less than half the cost of each ride, and the state and local taxes that most systems depend on have been plummeting. In most places, that has meant longer waits for more crowded, dirtier and more expensive trains and buses."

The article describes three examples: Hawaii "furloughs" its schoolchildren by closing its schools for 17 days; Clayton County in Georiga shuts down its transit system, and Colorado Springs turns off its street lights.