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My Neighborhood News Group (MNNG) is publishing a series of stories on how local governments are funded and the financial challenges facing both elected officials and residents. You can read Part 1: Introduction here. Part 2: Where’s the money here. Part 3: Property taxes here. Part 4: Fees and taxes here. Part 5: Federal and state grants here. Part 6: The difference between wants and needs here. Part 7: The color of money here.
“In corporate America, if departments spent more than allowed, you were either fired or demoted… In a private company, we had to answer to shareholders. Citizens are your shareholders. We elected you to spend our dollars wisely, not frivolously.” — Public comment at November 2025 Edmonds City Council meeting
“Run government like a business? What utter nonsense. A business is driven by profit; no profit, no business. The government operates to serve the public good, often on unprofitable but necessary projects and services.” — Nov. 25, 2025 My Edmonds News comment section
Local government is complex. There are many strings attached to all the money.
A common observation about a municipal financial crisis is usually, “Well, if cities were run more like a business, we wouldn’t have any of these problems.”
Association of Washington Cities spokesperson Brian Parry said he hears this a lot.
“Companies can choose not to serve you and a city can’t,” he said.
We’ve all seen the sign: We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. You won’t find that sign in a local government office.
“Cities are already providing very basic core services that can’t be just cut back because times are tough – no matter what the economic picture looks like,” Parry said. “Wastewater treatment, clean drinking water, police and fire.”
Many services — like the public pool, the transit system, even the state ferry system — operate at a loss.
“And, generally, administrative costs tend to be much lower than in the private sector,” Parry said.
Cities do everything — roads, wastewater, public safety, economic development, human services. They do it for everyone. No one is turned away.
“Services are provided by people, not products. City budgets are driven by the cost of employees,” Parry said.
Corporate America can raise prices at any time with no notice. You can choose to keep Verizon at the new higher price… or not. You can’t do that with a city. You can’t cancel your city and get a refund. You can choose another city, which some people do when they move, but that’s harder than canceling cable (sometimes).
A city’s shareholders — voters — have their say. Cities do not make a profit.
When Amazon is compared to a local government, this is what it might look like.
At some point, local government and the public may decide that local government should function more like corporate America. If that happens, then questions about whether we can collect public taxes at all might come up.
Next: What are local governments up against in 2026?
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