Rise of cloud services another blow to local government tax revenues

[Commentary] Cloud computing is one of those disruptive shifts in technology that has Silicon Valley giddy with excitement. Just don't expect to find local governments among those cheering this revolution.

Thanks to California's hopelessly outdated sales tax rules, the move to delivering technology through the Web -- the essence of cloud computing -- is eroding the sales taxes that towns depend on to fund everything from police to parks. And as cloud computing extends its reach, it promises to further squeeze the budgets of towns that have already been pinching pennies for years.