Editor, Gazette-Journal:

What does local government cost? Yes, you can go online, download Gloucester’s budget and get the big picture. That’s a lot of numbers to most folks. Or you can read your tax statements, and wish it were less. Rather than accepting it as one of those things that just is, don’t ya wish someone would break it down where it could be compared to your daily life—such as "A loaf of bread costs me $1.99 where law enforcement costs me $7 a month"?

Some communities have done just that; I found several online recently. Some communities have realized that the average citizen, when asked is local government too expensive, may say yes. But, if they compared the cost per taxpayer per month for individual services to, say, a movie rental, the answer was much different.

Yes, some adjustments were made for comparison purposes. Education was left out, as most communities have school boards for example, and while your taxes may pay for it...