4 ms·

That would be contrary to lower taxes and less government, which many people claim to want.

pclmulqdq 2y ago
The highest tax cities I have been in have the worst police, the worst roads, and the worst trash handling. Police and other basic services are very cheap compared to many of the programs undertaken by high-tax cities.
- hobs 2y ago
  That very much depends on your city, in some places cops take up more than 20% of city budgets, in some places more than 40% of the city budget is taken up by policing.
  - pclmulqdq 2y ago
    Where I live today, about 40% of the town budget goes to firefighters and police together. I was honestly surprised it was that low. However, it's one of the basic functions of a city and I live in a very low-tax place. I don't think you should generally be upset that police cost a lot of a town's budget, especially if the budget is small. By contrast, I used to live in NYC, which had a budget of over $100 billion, of which about 5% was the police department.
- swayvil 2y ago
  A small city in southern il. Surrounded by prisons.The new home of choice for recently released prisoners. It's where all cities within 100 miles send their problem homeless. Primary industries: retirement communities, abortion services, care for the mentally disabled and a small university. Worst restaurants. Many trailer parks. Half the population collects welfare. High taxes Unreasonably large police station and train station. Seriously. Huge. It's like they're setting something up. Any other cities like this?
- threatofrain 2y ago
  Cupertino has no police department. They sometimes get cops from SJ but... visually speaking there are basically no cops. Their public schools are Really Excellent. Maybe not top 10 in the nation, but they are around top 100. Palo Alto is about as nice as Cupertino in many respects but has lots of police. They are both similar population towns. There are many cities which likely will never ever be Cupertino no matter what sort of governance they pursue. Similarly, America might never achieve another NYC, just as the UK might never achieve another London. We need more sophisticated theories about what specific theories apply to what specific cities rather than looking for general copy-paste philosophies which can be summarized on the back of a napkin.
  - pclmulqdq 2y ago
    My suggestion here was that tax rate actually has nothing do to with quality of such basic services. It sounds like we agree.
VoodooJuJu 2y ago
Cities typically vote for higher taxes and more government, on the contrary.

The highest tax cities I have been in have the worst police, the worst roads, and the worst trash handling. Police and other basic services are very cheap compared to many of the programs undertaken by high-tax cities.

hobs 2y ago
That very much depends on your city, in some places cops take up more than 20% of city budgets, in some places more than 40% of the city budget is taken up by policing.
- pclmulqdq 2y ago
  Where I live today, about 40% of the town budget goes to firefighters and police together. I was honestly surprised it was that low. However, it's one of the basic functions of a city and I live in a very low-tax place. I don't think you should generally be upset that police cost a lot of a town's budget, especially if the budget is small. By contrast, I used to live in NYC, which had a budget of over $100 billion, of which about 5% was the police department.
swayvil 2y ago
A small city in southern il. Surrounded by prisons.The new home of choice for recently released prisoners. It's where all cities within 100 miles send their problem homeless. Primary industries: retirement communities, abortion services, care for the mentally disabled and a small university. Worst restaurants. Many trailer parks. Half the population collects welfare. High taxes Unreasonably large police station and train station. Seriously. Huge. It's like they're setting something up. Any other cities like this?
threatofrain 2y ago
Cupertino has no police department. They sometimes get cops from SJ but... visually speaking there are basically no cops. Their public schools are Really Excellent. Maybe not top 10 in the nation, but they are around top 100. Palo Alto is about as nice as Cupertino in many respects but has lots of police. They are both similar population towns. There are many cities which likely will never ever be Cupertino no matter what sort of governance they pursue. Similarly, America might never achieve another NYC, just as the UK might never achieve another London. We need more sophisticated theories about what specific theories apply to what specific cities rather than looking for general copy-paste philosophies which can be summarized on the back of a napkin.
- pclmulqdq 2y ago
  My suggestion here was that tax rate actually has nothing do to with quality of such basic services. It sounds like we agree.

VoodooJuJu 2y ago

Cities typically vote for higher taxes and more government, on the contrary.