Below are 2 pie charts, one in percentages, the other in dollars, of a recent Holyoke budget. (The charts exclude education, which is paid for by the State)
It's shocking to learn that 84% of the budget is eaten up by just 6 items. The remaining 16% covers 44 other items.
The top 6 items are:
- Police Department
- Health Insurance
- Pensions (Retirement)
- Fire Department
- DPW
- Service on Debt
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A huge police budget? Of course! There's a lot of crime, and how do we reduce crime?
Then for every government employee, there is a pension. If government keeps of growing, the pension slice of the pie
grows, as do the insurance costs. No matter how the tax burden is shuffled around from businesses to homeowners, we
are asked each year to cough up more in property taxes. We've passed the point where higher tax rates will actually generate less income
to the government. (See the Laffer Curve)
That is the Breaking Point
Now, this is Holyoke, and is this typical of the state or even the federal budget? Maybe, but there comes a point when even small
reductions in the size of the government don't help. Much more drastic cuts might be the only solution.
Here's the National Debt Clock and
the Massachusetts Debt Clock
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