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State Surpluses



Some States Sitting on Piles of Cash, and Cities Want a Cut

Last year, 17 states had budget surpluses, and 39 reported them in recent years. However, the state's financial security has gone toward padding the coffers of rainy day funds, instead of investing in resources for struggling municipalities. Some cities, like Lorain, in Ohio, are in such a critical state that they have abandoned some buildings instead of repeating maintenance. While the saving is largely a lesson from recent recessions, the article mentions that the decision about what to do can often fall along political boundaries, with Democrats pushing to spend, and Republicans tending to save. An example of this can be seen in California, a more liberal state, which has used much of its surpluses for maintenance, homelessness, and other issues. It's hard to say what the right answer is when facing an uncertain future. But most problems are more expensive to fix the longer that you wait, so stashing every penny may be an unwise investment.

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