Learning from other's mistakes

The salient statements are so often found in the last words of even the longest pieces.  From today's New York Times Magazine article, "Broke Town, USA":

Until voters can agree on what government services they want and will pay for, it is possible that bondholders will bank the profits while taxpayers, employees and citizens share the losses.

It is this issue of voters agreeing on what government services they want and will pay for that most resonates for me, and why, for more than a year, I've wanted a resident survey to assist us in aligning our revenues with our expenditures.