That is usually true, but I’m pretty sure there was a story a while back where inspectors found a water line being tapped and no record of it every having been done or approved. And for power, some of them are using their own power generation, despite how dirty that is, so the city/county would have no record of how much power is used.

There is absolutely massive amounts of corruption and collusion happening though. Not trying to minimize that. Just want a complete picture of how much the oligarchs are willing to cheat, bend, or break the system to achieve their goals.

Hardly likely to be the default

I agree. However, people should be aware that even if their city or county reports water and power usage, the numbers are useless without third party independent verification. They have already shown they are happy to break the law, cheat the system, steal, hide, whatever it takes.