As cities and states struggle to raise revenue in a sagging economy, they have increasingly turned control of public services and assets over to for-profit corporations. But these short-term efforts to close budget gaps can have a disastrous long-term impact.

In Chicago, a Morgan Stanley-backed company took control of 36,000 public parking meters with a 75-year contract -- and as a result, parking fees have exploded, meters run until 10pm, and taxpayers must reimburse the company for lost meter profits when they want to hold a parade or street fair. The plan was quickly pushed through the City Council and passed with no public input or debate.

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In South Carolina, after the state outsourced its water system, the for-profit corporation failed to pay state employee payroll taxes, lost track of tens of thousands of dollars, and lost millions of gallons of water. But the private company refused to come clean about what happened and comply with the public records law's transparency requirements, despite being funded by public dollars.

"Time and again, when we have privatized public infrastructure, the promises of better, faster, cheaper have failed to be delivered," says Donald Cohen, chair of In The Public Interest, a group that has long tracked the outsourcing of public services and assets to for-profit firms. "Outsourcing [in many cases] means taxpayers have little say in how tax dollars are spent and how services are run." Cohen's group is fighting to put control of public services and assets back into the hands of taxpayers.