Legislator proposes state office to help local governments consolidate, share services

 

A new state office that could help smooth the way for local governments to share services, collaborate and consolidate is being proposed in the Capitol. The Intergovernmental Advisory Office, embodied in House Bill 5930, would assist local governments in a myriad of areas, said bill sponsor Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Royal Oak.

She discussed her legislation as part of a panel at a Crain's Michigan Business event in Grand Rapids on Monday, on the business case and ways to rebuild local government.

It's an issue that continues to echo locally throughout Michigan and in the Capitol, where cuts to state revenue sharing, like a 4 percent reduction passed Tuesday by the Senate, are met with concern and opposition from local governments who say they've already been asked to endure much in the way of cost-cutting.

In the wake of scarce tax dollars and resistance to tax increases, some local governmental units have undertaken or explored consolidation, intergovernmental cooperation and services sharing.

For example, in west Michigan's Allegan County, a group of local residents, active in both business and civic affairs, is investigating the merits of consolidating Saugatuck, Saugatuck Township and Douglas. A ballot question committee has formed in the wake of two studies that suggested annual savings of $2 million if local communities joined, according to the Consolidated Government Committee.
Also being looked at is whether there is duplicative investment in buildings and equipment and if potential savings can be measured, and if consolidation would provide for enhanced management skill and expertise.

Donigan's legislation incorporates some of the recommendations in a late-2009 report by the public-private Legislative Commission on Government Efficiency, which examined every area of the state budget. In the area of local government and revenue sharing, the commission's recommendations included establishing an intergovernmental advisory office “to eliminate barriers and increase the likelihood of successful local government efforts to share services, collaborate, consolidate and increase efficiency.”

For example, Donigan said, the office could identify opportunities as well as barriers between regions, provide resources and services of experts from the public and private sector, and prepare financial models that local governments could replicate.

“Local government likes order, consistency,” she said. “What I'd like this legislation to do more than anything else is to create a sense of orderly reconstruction.”

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Source: Crain’s Detroit Business, 5.19.10