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Show Westerners May Have say in Gbvemiiaeilt: communities to successfully shoulder more of the financial finan-cial load for growth projects, more flexibility in law governing public money is desirable. ' By using a process called leveraging, communities could create a reserve fund, invest that money and derive income from the investment invest-ment he suggested. , Peterson said that it is possible for western communities com-munities to raise the money they will need for the growth they will likely experience. "But changes in availability availabil-ity of money from other governmental sources will force communities to make some hard decisions about how much growth they really want and how much they are willing to pay for it," the speaker said. "Communities are going to have to assume a greater responsibility and a ; more conscious responsibility responsibil-ity for their respective v futures." Westerners who have been vocal about wanting to run their own local government govern-ment shows without so much federal help are probably going to get what they want, according to financial consultant con-sultant Mark Peterson. "Those communities faced with financial problems due to growth are going to have to learn to accomplish more on their own," said the managing partner of the Utah-based Region West Associates. Peterson spoke in the second session of the Merrill Lecture Series on Financing Rural Development, held at Utah State University. The series is intended for local government officials and others concerned with' rural development. The next session, scheduled schedul-ed February 6 and 7 at USU, will cover private financing sources available to communities. com-munities. Speakers will include in-clude Harvey McMains, senior sen-ior research fellow at the University of Texas, Austin; Bill Nicosen, Washington, D.C., attorney; and Ira Sharkanskyr professor of political science at University of Wisconsin . "The idea that 'God helps those who help themselves' is certainly going to be true in the field of municipal finance during the next decade, The days of open-handed open-handed largesse from the federal and state governments govern-ments are over," Peterson declared. He cited a recent situation in which a Utah community asked for state aid: for expansion of an electric company. "The response was that, unless the community showed show-ed some willingness to actively financially support the project itself, outsiqe help was not likely to be forthcoming," Peterson said. He said that in order for |