So should governments. If there is corruption or theft then hopefully there will be an investigation and if needs be prosecutions.

And the tax base cannot support the infrastructure.

What then?

Your family has to live within their means.
What if something happens to you?

No one should help you, right?

Governments aren't households. They provide services that maintain a civilized society. If the financial situation there has gotten untenable due to state funding cutbacks, then the state needs to step up and fix things.

I've done home handyman work, delivered paper, and delivered pizzas to make up the shortfall until I could get a better job.

Perhaps the police could spend half their time delivering papers and the fire department could moonlight painting fences, like a Mark Twain story come to life.

If you can't afford what you want you need to cut back and look for ways to streamline.

You don't say what your job is, government worker, but I'm surprised one wouldn't know that municipal governments aren't drowning in cash right now. They're already cut to the bone.

It is well managed, on the whole.

During a previous oil boom I worked for an energy company. There, the waste was truly staggering.

by cutting your job.

One of the poorest cities in the state - probably in the country - and your first thought is that its inability to keep up with its bills was caused by corruption or theft?

East Cleveland in recent years lost two of its biggest employers and the income taxes paid by those who worked there. East Cleveland's bottom line has been further diminished by substantial cuts in state funding and a countywide reappraisal that further reduced property tax receipts.