by Audrey Levine

Created on: July 04, 2009   Last Updated: July 08, 2009

This is a very hot button, and interesting, issue, particularly during these trying economic times. Taxpayers are struggling to pay the money required by local governments to cover services and other necessities in the towns, while dealing with a loss of jobs and other issues. Everyone is looking for a way to save money.

And still, I believe taxpayers should not have a bigger say in how local governments spend the money.

People talk about practical issues (there are so many taxpayers in a town, how will decisions be made) and others (what if people can't handle their own money, how will they handle it for a whole town?), and I agree with these reasons, but I'm going to speak from what I see in local government.

I am a newspaper reporter, covering municipal government in two local towns, one with a population of a little over 10,000 and the other with a population of more than 36,000. I attend municipal meetings, and report on budgets, purchases and anything else that relates to the local governments. I've seen firsthand what happens when residents try to dictate how local government taxes should be spent. And, to be honest and blunt, I think it would be a really bad idea.

There are so many state laws and regulations that go into decision making in the local governments, which also mandate when grants can be applied for and when mandatory evaluations and other work must be done in the towns. For example, in one of the towns, the county recently ordered a revaluation to be done on all properties. Taxpayers have spoken out against it, saying it shouldn't have to be done, it costs too much - these are all valid reasons not to want to go through with the procedure. But the fact is, it is required by the county and the town must do it.

Elected officials, while townspeople themselves, work with attorneys, administrators and others who are well-versed in the ways of governmental law and the requirements of the state and counties. Regular residents don't and, for that reason, they often don't understand how some of the tax money must be spent. I understand that residents want to pay less money, we all do and it's a fact of life - but they have to remember, and sometimes I think they don't, that some of the funds are required to comply with rules of the state that a local government cannot question or ignore.

In one of the towns I cover, there has been a particular issue with changes made on a county-owned road. For months, residents blamed the local officials

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