It's like you're purposely misreading what they wrote. Did you miss this part? > An important thing to remember is that cities/towns/counties often take out de

It's like you're purposely misreading what they wrote. Did you miss this part? > An important thing to remember is that cities/towns/counties often take out debt for spending that will pay off over time. They are very obviously talking about 'decline' in general at this point, not exclusively rural areas where most people or everyone gets their water from wells. Hell, just look at the comment they're replying to: > It seems peculiar to me that there is no standard process for the winding down of city governance when population dwindles.