The costs of service equalization: standards of service equity and their impacts on municipal budgets.

Factors, other than race and wealth, that may systematically affect the distribution of services, are considered in terms of constitutional structures. Alternative approaches to service equalization are discussed. Finally, using the distribution of police- and fire-protection resources in Boston, Massachusetts as an example, price tags are placed on different equalization approaches. Results indicate that more equitable distribution of existing services can be achieved without massive increases in local expenditures and should be possible even for fiscally stressed cities.-after Author