In theory your local government has the local knowledge to allocate money and resources better than some hated bureaucrat in some far-away city. In reality loc

In theory your local government has the local knowledge to allocate money and resources better than some hated bureaucrat in some far-away city. In reality local government has almost zero transparency and people don't care about local government as much so it's a massive exercise in grift. Money disappears, contracts are given out to someone's friend at a jacked up price, a few officials can block a project completely, safety specs are ignored, etc. etc. etc. If a project ordered at the state or federal level ever makes it into existence you can guarantee hundreds of hands have squeezed every dollar out of it for themselves or their friends long before a shovel ever broke ground.