State budget cuts hit small-town Ohio

Residents here were all for balancing Ohio’s budget. They didn’t expect that to mean their town would cease to exist. This small village of low-slung houses and squeaky swing sets in western Ohio’s farm country has already laid off its part-time police officer and decided not to replace its maintenance worker, who recently retired. To save cash, Mayor William Rolston will propose Monday that the town turn off the street lights, and that Uniopolis disincorporate after more than a century in existence.
It’s possible that the drastic results of the cuts will motivate some voters to think twice about supporting candidates who pledge to make more trims. “These communities have existed for generations. To try to devastate them with funding that has been taken away is un-American and un-Ohioan,” said J.K. Byar, the Republican mayor of Amberley Village, a town outside Cincinnati.
Read the full story here: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ohio-cuts-20120304,0,6084585.story?track=icymi