"From running your dog at a city dog park and parking your car, to visitng the local community center, the use of government services can be like feeding a vending machine as residents find themselves nickel and dimed for services that once cost little or nothing. [...]

So where does the money go?

Turning a trip to a city park or public beach into a trip to a vending machine leaves residents wondering where their tax money goes, said Karen Kraut, director of the Tax Fairness Organizing Collaborative, a network of state level advocacy groups at United for a Fair Economy. It turns citizens into consumers, and creates resentment to use a public service where everything is a commodity, Kraut said in a telephone interview with WalletPop.

'In general nickel and diming is less courageous than raising taxes' such as the income tax, she said. The federal government should help states financially, and state legislators should be brave enough to pass progressive tax reform where the highest earners pay more, she said. Paying a $5 fee to go to a park hurts a lot less for a millionaire than it does the average person, Kraut said.

'It's a cheap out by politicians who can't support a broad-based tax increase,' she said. 'It's really a disincentive.' [...]"

Read about 10 public places where you may be nickeled or dimed in this blog post by Aaron Crow.