Utah Valley residents need to be on high alert to the danger of local governments trying to sneak revenue increases past the voters.

Wrestling with budget problems, Provo's Municipal Council is considering raising power and water rates. Lehi council members are eyeing a $72 annual increase in water, sewer and garbage rates in the municipal 2010 fiscal budget. Surely other governments and agencies will be tempted to do the same.

Some fees are warranted, of course. That's especially true where the services are truly discretionary. For instance, if a city charges a fee to reserve a picnic pavilion in the park, that is paid only by those asking for that privilege.

But "fee" can be misleading, especially when we're talking about utilities. People in the modern world have to have electricity and running water and garbage services. Most cities insist on it anyway. Try letting the trash pile up in your driveway, or installing an outhouse in your backyard. Very quickly municipal officers will be at your front door to let you know that's not acceptable.

So these are mandatory charges, and it would not be dishonest to call them taxes. They're a favorite of governments because each may be small in itself. But raise one here, another there, and they add up.

On a deeper level, this highlights the hype given to the government's operation of public services. In Utah and cities across the country, government officials often sing the praises of letting the government run things. Public utilities can offer lower rates -- until the government doesn't want to do that anymore. It's also interesting how, facing tough budget years, local officials suddenly realize that utility rates must go up.

It's a popular delusion these days that government will always run things for the benefit of ordinary people. On the contrary, government runs things for the benefit of government. If government wants a public utility or service to be a cash cow, then all too often a cash cow it will be.

More specific justifications also fall flat. Provo officials cite an expected rate increase from Utah Municipal Power Agency. But that just passes the buck. Why are UMPA rates seemingly destined to go up? Utility officials say that they have to raise rates because in the recession people are using less electricity. This raises the specter of a "heads I win, tails you lose" policy, where ratepayers have to pay more no matter what.

Lehi officials noted that rates hadn't been changed recently. The implication seems to be that of course costs will go up. That's not necessarily true, however. In many fields, prices go down, or quality goes way up. The cheapest laptop computer of today can do more than the biggest mainframe of decades ago. The question is not whether public utilities and governments think they should get more money, but whether they deserve it.

No one would mind if annual rate reviews led to lower costs. (For instance, Questar Gas has asked the state for permission to send rebates to its customers because gas costs have gone down.) But, strangely, costs always seem to go up with government. Higher rates and fees need rock-solid justification.

There are better alternatives: Cut spending.

Governments need to kick into high gear on modernizing their operations and trimming the obsolete, the superfluous and the just plain luxurious. That sure is better than slowly draining residents' wallets with incessant and insidious increases in "fees."