Reply #11: So true... and we had a city council raise the price of bus transit fare rather than raise taxes ...

[Blackhatjack]

.... the 'fee for service model' has infiltrated every aspect of essential services so that those well-off financially can pay the 'same price as the poor' for water, sewer, gas, etc. and their property taxes will not be increased.

When you consider the percentage of total income the working poor spend on housing, food, transportation, and utilities, there is nothing left over --and any increase in any of these creates a 'hole' that cannot be filled.