That seems reasonable on its face. The reality is that state and federal funding hinges on city planners padding budgets and increasing capacity to meet future growth. Meanwhile, cities and towns put themselves in hock to meet the servicing demands of their infrastructure, requiring more state and federal funding, requiring new projects with padded budgets and increased capacity.

Notice that nowhere in there was a requirement that said infrastructure pays for itself. More often than not, and especially in small towns, it doesn't.

But don't believe me, take it from a civil engineer and urban planner who has done a lot of real research into this phenomenon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn7aJ_Ti-co