Remember that argument for how parking was going to get solved. Well it seems that other municipalities and counties around the country got the itch to raise money during the last 5 years and it has come back to bite them in the ass.

From the NYT:

In Lewisburg, after Mr. Overman pitched the swap idea for the sewer project, Kenneth E. Carr, a city official, attended the class. “The seminar was dull and boring,” said Mr. Carr, who still has a copy of the book, stamped with the state seal of Tennessee on every page. “I thought, ‘Well, this is approved by the state because they put their seal of approval on it. This must be something they think is good for us.’ ”

Mr. Carr said he had not known the course would be taught by the bank and the law firm involved in Lewisburg’s deal. “It would have been better if someone neutral had taught the course,” he said. Even so, he said the officials making the decision never asked his opinion after the session.

Connie W. Edde, Lewisburg’s finance director, said she had assumed the city would reject the proposal because “it was a big risk.” But hours before the City Council was to meet on the plan, Ms. Edde said, she saw the city’s superintendent for water and sewage return from lunch with Mr. Overman. The superintendent “announced that he decided this was now a good idea.” That evening, the plan passed.