Sentence:  It has been said that when local government revenues were mostly produced locally from the property tax , the lack of a uniform fiscal year <WSD>was</WSD> no great handicap ; but with the growth of state and federal fiscal aid , the emphasis on equalization , and the state-local sharing of responsibility for certain important functions , this is no longer true . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)