Walter In Denver

Taxin' And Spendin'

Radley Balko:

...the all-too-typical way state and local governments handled the '90's boom -- they jacked up spending to win favor with constituents, and paid little heed to the inevitable -- that the economy would eventually slow down. And so would tax receipts. In this case, San Diego city council members deciced they'd reward city employees by doubling the size of their pensions. The average San Diegan city employee now gets a check for $306,000 when he retires, plus an additional $50,000 per year thereafter. The city now faces a $1.1 billion deficit, and a bond rating lower than that of Los Angeles.

Colorado has been largely immune to this, even though we've had a huge economic boom in the last decade. The TABOR Amendment went a long way toward forcing the state government to be more responsible with its budgets, since spending increases were limited even if tax revenues grew rapidly. You don't hear many government types thanking Doug Bruce, though.

Ingrates.

Posted by Walter at September 4, 2004 12:03 PM