One of the sad realities of surviving the Great Recession is that all of the belt-tightening that took place during the lean years simply created a backlog of deferred maintenance costs that are coming due just when revenue projections for local government entities are beginning to take on a rosier hue.

Any “extra” money is effectively spent before it hits local coffers as elected officials perform triage on budget line items that have been neglected due to shortages of discretionary funds.

It’s like getting a nice raise right around the time your oldest child gets accepted to college. Before, you couldn’t afford to put money into a college fund and now that you have a little extra, it’s paying for college instead of fattening your retirement account.

Read more at The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel.