Some ‘Unfunded Mandates’ are Bad, But Many Others are Okay

Commentary
By John A. Ostenburg

A common complaint among lots of municipal officials is that the state or federal government many times imposes mandates that the local officials then must implement. It becomes especially problematic when costs associated with putting the state or federal measures in place require local funding, which means that municipal taxes increase because of something that elected officials at a higher level have decided is important.

While I agree with my…