" I confess I am a bit confused by this piece, which is clearly written with a deep understanding on municipal and state funding sources, but not necessarily clearly outlining how costs can be lowered. Mr. Dressel seems to be unset that the state did not hand out money to localities in the vast sums seen in the past, while blaming the state for not enacting enough cost reform actions at the same time. In my town, like most in NJ, the local budget absorbs much of the tax money, and hence local reform seems to be the key to any meaningful cost reduction. How is this the responsibility of the state as primary driver? We all know the state has huge pension and other structural cost headwinds, but so too the municipalities have bloated payrolls, duplicative departments via split townships, and excessive costs for education and other departments. Isn't this just passing the buck to Christie when we all need to take action together. I'm sick of the "they should go first" line of reasoning I see too often. Lets "man-up" and force all local officials to deal with reality - the money isn't there, and costs have to come down. Period. "