A tale of three cities: Recession saps local budgets

The economic recession is driving cities and counties to cut services and staffing and, in some cases, delay road building.

The core problem is that governments are seeing declines in their main funding sources – property and sales taxes. Here is a closer look at what's causing the fiscal squeeze:

A Roseville buyer's remorse

Shania Jensen sat in the kitchen of her 2,700 square-foot home in Roseville's Crocker Ranch neighborhood and uttered three words that no homebuyer ever wants to say aloud.

"I regret buying," Jensen said simply. She and her husband, Steve Liggett, had been renting for two years, waiting for the right home.

The wait ended in May 2008.

"We thought we were getting a great deal on this," she said of the $419,000 purchase price.

Read the complete story at sacbee.com

This story was originally published March 10, 2009 at 5:34 PM with the headline "A tale of three cities: Recession saps local budgets."