Government spending is up!

Surprise! Local Governments spend an inordinate
amount of money.

A new report out today from the Free Enterprise
Forum
shows that “despite
declines in its population and school enrollment, Charlottesville’s public
spending continues to
rise
.”

“The City of Charlottesville
’s inflation-adjusted spending increased by over 61% between 1988 and
2003. In contrast, Nelson County, with a drop in school enrollment but with a
population increase of over 18%, increased inflation-adjusted spending by less
(53%) than Charlottesville over the time period under study.

The City of Charlottesville had far
and away the largest increase in per capita spending, nearly 64%. Albemarle , Greene and Louisa
Counties were next, with increases of between 38% and 45%. Nelson County (29%)
and Fluvanna County (16.6%) had the lowest
increases.”

I hope that there will be
some public scrutiny/outrage about this in the coming days and weeks. It will be
interesting to see the City’s and various Counties’ rationale for this upsurge
in spending. Sadly, it appears that much of the public prefers to remain
blissfully ignorant of how their money is being spent.

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