Local governments are spending less on public services because public employee retirement costs are eating up an ever-greater chunk of their budgets, according to a new study by the Manhattan Institute.

“As governments pay more and more for these benefits… policymakers find that governments have less and less to spend on the services that citizens need and expect,” the study’s author, Daniel DiSalvo, wrote. “Call it the “crowding-out” effect: skyrocketing spending on public employees reduces government’s ability to do anything else.”