In the previous post we mentioned the work taking place in the state of New York concerning the study and implementation of shared municipal services. As we know, when done correctly, shared services can save towns and counties valuable tax dollars. Some examples of shared services include municipalities sharing costs on expensive capital projects that benefit both towns, the regionalization of emergency dispatching services or shared information technology services.
In Connecticut the state government and regional planning agencies have worked together to implement shared services throughout central Connecticut. The state has set aside grants for a number of purposes with the intention of lowering costs and improving efficiency for regional projects.
One of the lead agencies in the development of these shared services projects is the Capitol Region Council of Governments (CRCOG). CRCOG provides member municipalities guidance when applying for these grants and provides and “excellent opportunity for CRCOG member communities to obtain grant funding for a wide variety of projects.”
The grants target the following areas including IT Application Sharing and Development, Enhancement of Regional GIS and GIS Flight and Mapping Data.
To learn more about these Regional Performance Incentive Program Grants visit CRCOG’s website or view this presentation.
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Another topic being discussed for municipal cost savings is the idea of combining some municipal services that may be repeated across several departments. These redundant services and operations may exist within the same department or between school and municipal departments. Municipalities across the country are trying to cut or limit known redundant services which could include HR, IT, and purchasing.
It is not just local governments that are thinking about shared services to create cost savings. Many state governments, including New York State’s Division of Local Government Services are providing aid to municipalities to research any possible cost savings that may arise with the implementation of shared services. New York State has awarded over 13.5 million dollars to local and county governments to study proposed shared services.
Some of these projects include:
- The Village of Lyndonville and the Town of Yates will work cooperatively to conduct a study to examine the potential cost savings, efficiency and improved levels of service associated with consolidating service delivery and potentially merging the two municipalities into a single entity.
- The cities of Port Jervis and Middletown in Orange County, New York will enter into an inter-municipal agreement for the joint acquisition and shared use of capital equipment.
- The Town of Newstead and Village of Akron in Erie County plan to implement the study recommendation of building a shared highway facility. By constructing a joint highway facility, Newstead and Akron will save taxpayer dollars, conserve resources, streamline and improve efficiency of operations.
- The City of Batavia and Genesee County are merging the Batavia police information system and the Batavia dispatch operations into a county-wide unified dispatch and information system.
- The Town of North Hempstead will install ‘Great Net’ a web-based intranet platform that would link all villages on the Great Neck Peninsula, the Town of North Hempstead, special districts, fire districts, OEM, and more, all on one common space. (information from: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/lgss/smsi/smsi2007-08winners.html)
These projects involve a number of different components of municipal government from infrastructure and capital equipment to personnel and technology. To read about more shared services projects visit New York State’s Shared Municipal Services Incentive Grant Program website
Even though budgets are tightening and cities across the country are looking to cut costs municipal departments are looking for ways to save while making their work flows more cost efficient. In a recent story from KansasCity.com Kevin Wright discusses how the city of Olathe, Kansas could become the “first city in Kansas to undertake a large-scale energy efficiency project that could upgrade its entire water and wastewater systems, saving the city money and opening new avenues for revenue collection.”
Now in the design phase the city is working with outside energy consultants to find areas within the municipality that can be improved to lower costs. Some of these improvements include “technology upgrades and equipment replacements at wastewater treatment and water treatment plants, improving equipment and power supplies at lift stations, water pumps and water pumping stations, changing to an automated water meter reading and leak detection system, and using solar photovoltaic electricity generation.”
For more on this story and other cost saving measures that are taking place with this project visit the story on KansasCity.com.
The New Jersey State League of Municipalities website has many links to news stories about a number of cost savings measures that municipalities have started across New Jersey. Highlights include stories about shared services aggrements for municipal services and equipment to increasing efficiency at all levels of government. The article discusses savings to the municipalities that are sharing services but also the savings to tax payers where over a half million dollars are going to be saved over the three years.
Imagine that you’re in a town where you can request services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer or phone that connects to the web. In this town, you wouldn’t have to travel to Town Hall to fill out paper forms only to travel back days later to see if your permit was granted or to find out why the potholes weren’t repaired. Town Hall would consume much less paper and may even be able to save energy by shortening hours. Also imagine a town where you could go online anytime and see the impact of government decisions on the green spaces, traffic, industry and other areas of environmental impact. In this town, you could become a more active partner with your local government in driving environmental improvements. This is all possible with today’s technologies. In my opinion, a town where the citizenry and government connect processes and data through the web is a greener town!
Netizen
I was always terrible in geography! I could never keep the names of rivers, mountains and capitals straight. Fortunately, I fell in love with maps through my total lack of direction. So whenever someone points out a new mapping site on the web, I check it out. That’s how I found my way to the University of Connecticut Map and Geographic Information Center.
The experience was truly MAGIC as I explored the changes in towns over the centuries by enabling historical map views as I passed a viewer over contemporary locations. I then thought what I could find out if I could do this for all the types of data my town has. Property, census, school, business and other data could be viewed as maps to see what changed. I imagined understanding (for the first time) zoning and economic decisions and impacts, changes in neighborhoods and businesses, and even changes in parks and green spaces. With my new geography insights and the support of local government in making their/ our data accessible to tools like those of MAGIC, I’m confident I could be a better neighbor and citizen.
-netizen