Mortgage meltdown hits local governments

Local government funds have been hurt by the subprime mortgage mess,
which could directly affect counties, towns and schools. Higher
property taxes could be a result. The 100-plus government investment
pools nationwide hold over $200 billion in assets, according to
Standard & Poor’s. “These funds try to act like safe money-market
funds, but some also wanted to get a bit more yield,” said Peter Rizzo,
an analyst at S&P.