I maintain that there simply is not enough tax base for these areas to fund themselves but you’ve done a wonderful job moving the goal posts beyond anything the article is stating; they rely on federal funds to operate.

What data do you have to back up corruption?

Keep in mind there are far more small towns than large towns. As a ratio it seems unlikely that small towns are more likely to be corrupt than cities.

The question then is what funds are they using to facilitate this corruption. My guess is federal and state funds because again, they lack the tax base.