What is inarguable is that state government has laid off much of the costs of providing services, including any debts that occur, to local jurisdictions. Which shouldn't surprise us. Higher levels of government will always take care of themselves first and dump on jurisdictions below them. We'll continue to debate whether new people bring enough revenue to cover the costs they generate, but two factors suggest that they don't. The other is the example of states and communities that have experienced rapid and sustained population growth, such as California and its many subdivisions, where taxes have continued to climb and where services in many sectors have begun to deteriorate.
Growth is obviously a financial loser for local governments.
The Growth Lobby does itself no service by denying this. It could regain some of its lost credibility by 'fessing up and trying much harder to at least partially mitigate the problem it helps create by pushing the executive and legislative branches of our state government to more equitably distribute the taxes already collected. The above does not include the dollars owed to the federal government for Pima County's share of the Central Arizona Project through the Central Arizona Water Conservation District. Nightmare In Tin - Tucson's slums can be a deadly place. Tucson Weekly .