Not sure where you are but in the EU this is not exactly the case anymore which is why Greece got into so much trouble continuing with their old ways.  Countries cannot exactly print Euros.
In the US, individual states are responsible for education, healthcare, roads and certain public lands - constitutionally, states cannot print money as this is a federal government power granted by the constitution.  A similar situation applies to Canada but replace "states" with provinces and constitution with uh... constitution   The alternative is a pay-per-use system I guess and well, who can afford that what with all the taxes we pay?!