The recession has caused agencies at all levels of government to look for debt solutions. Across the board, one of the solutions implemented has been to shift the burden of debt off of the government and on to the taxpayers. Taxes are rising throughout the United States and Canada as budget shortfalls cause government agencies to alter their budgets. It’s certainly a fact that the government has to do something to deal with its debt.

Debt settlement and debt consolidation are abundant for consumers while options for government agencies aren’t easy to come by. Nevertheless, moving the burden of debt on to taxpayers who are already struggling because of the recession doesn’t seem like a smart solution.

We have seen taxes rise in different ways at all levels of government throughout the United States and Canada. For example, New York state legislators voted last year to amend their budget in a manner that resulted in both property tax and school tax increases for residents. These changes may seem like smart debt solutions to New York legislators who have saved almost a quarter of a million dollars in the past two years as a result of the property tax change alone. However it must be remembered that this money is coming from somewhere else: the taxpayers. In a difficult economy, even the smallest increase in taxes can cause financial difficulties for individuals.

In many areas, taxpayers are already paying the bulk of the bills for the city and can’t afford to take on any more of debt to cover budget shortfalls. An example of this is seen in Vancouver, Canada where two thirds of the city’s revenue already comes from taxpayers. The city has a $1-billion annual budget with a $60 million shortfall and that $60 million has to come from somewhere. The city is looking into debt solutions that include cutting jobs and eliminating city programs. This is a no-win situation for taxpayers. Either they experience rising taxes in order to keep city workers employed and programs in place or these people and programs are cut to make up for the budget shortfall.

So what’s the solution? It’s not an easy issue to find answers to. The economy is still shaky throughout North America. Individuals are being forced to look into debt settlement, debt consolidation and loan deferment. Businesses are struggling to stay afloat through the rest of the recession. And the government is going to have to make some cutbacks of its own to reduce budget shortfalls. Hopefully they’ll come up with some creative debt solutions that don’t involve increasing taxes but also don’t cut jobs with an ever increasing unemployment rate.