Do you know what an “unfunded mandate” is?  As used between government agencies, it means that one part of government requires another governmental entity (or individual taxpayers) to obey rules and regulations, but provides no funds for doing so.  Here’s an example:

The states that border the Great Lakes are required by the Federal Government to make sure that water runoff doesn’t pollute the Great Lakes.  On a practical level, local governments must comply with federal and state laws to make sure that all the salt, sand, and other junk put down on roads during the winter doesn’t all end up in Lake Michigan (or one of the other lakes).  It usually sounds like a noble goal.  So how do you pay for it?

Local governments come up with all kinds of different fees to create holding ponds for water runoff so that pollutants can be removed before the water ends up in the lake.  But neither the Feds nor the States provide funds for this.  So, local governments impose taxes (they are usually called fees, but they are a tax, period).

One of the reasons that some states are in financial difficulty during recessions is that they must maintain this spending level on unfunded mandates even while property tax revenue may be going down (because property values are headed south).

Another example of an unfunded mandate is also an example of judicial activism.  Someone sues your city because they are not doing enough to clean up the water that’s runoff.  The court agrees, and orders your city to clean up the water even further.  Does the court give the money to the city?  Nope.

So the next time you say, “Someone should do something about that!”, be careful what you wish for.  Government can tax YOU to make sure something is done about it — whether you contribute to the problem or not.