Municipal Shared Services and Consolidation provides a comprehensive and clear review of the theories and practices of structuring and managing complex local government services. Intended for both students and practitioners, this volume in the Public Solutions Handbook Series addresses concepts and processes of shaping collaborative arrangements in public service with goals of effectiveness and efficiency in mind. The Handbook begins with a review of theories of shared services and consolidation, highlighting conceptual foundations, practical barriers, and cultural considerations related to these efforts. Specific, practical advice follows, highlighting the processes of creating, implementing, and managing shared services and consolidation agreements. Municipal Shared Services and Consolidation is exceptionally well written and is amplified by examples, cases, illustrations, and a comprehensive bibliography.

"Local government is struggling to continue delivering efficient and effective public services using traditional municipal service delivery structures. In this book, an internationally renowned academic and a local practitioner combine insights and experiences to aid stakeholders in assessing public service delivery alternatives. The authors align the characteristics of each municipal service with the advantages and disadvantages of alternative service delivery mechanisms"--P. [4] of cover.

Times have changed! The way government does business must also change. This handbook is a guide for any public official who has the interest, desire, intestinal fortitude, and courage to take the bold steps needed to deliver services to their constituents in a better, faster, cheaper, and more efficient way. The process of creating a shared service environment is difficult and challenging. But it is a proven method for improving services while saving tax dollars. One county joined forces with its largest city and school district to form its own health and wellness center. The result: $20m savings in the first three years of operation. Shared services work!

NYâ€TMs Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness engaged CGR to analyze local governments (city and town) in the Oneonta, Norwich and Cortland areas and evaluate opportunities to share services and/or consolidate. CGRâ€TMs report of the issues and options in the 3 city/town groups focuses attention on workable and realistic ideas for the Commission to consider as future avenues to pursue for improving local government structures across NY. Three themes emerged in the study: 1) there is no need for the state to require a “one-size-fits-allâ€ŗ solution; 2) shared services agreements or consolidations must be perceived as being equitable in order to succeed over time; and 3) to consolidate entire municipal entities, creative solutions are needed in order to overcome challenges of outdated borders, imbedded procedures, legal constraints and historical differences.

This book is a bold prescription for local government reform that moves well beyond the old arguments regarding consolidations (also referred to as amalgamations) and co-operation (sometimes referred to as shared services) to paint a picture of an efficient, effective tier of government that strikes a balance between the right of persons to pursue their existential ends and the need to promote the common good. The book presents a system of local government that balances human dignity with the common good, restrains Leviathan, provides a voice for the disenfranchised (and even the disinterested), and delivers goods and services efficiently and effectively. Ironically, what is often argued to be the weakness of local government in many jurisdictions – the fact that it is merely a creature of statute – is also the best hope we have of making the oft cited rhetoric about how ‘local government is the closest to the people that serves the people best’ become reality.

Alternative Service Delivery: Readiness Check synthesizes academic and practitioner knowledge about alternative service delivery (ASD) systems. This handbook offers information and insights that local governments can use to provide public services more effectively and efficiently. It serves as a primer about alternative service delivery, intended to guide investigation of new approaches to service delivery. It derives from multiple conversations with local government practitioners in Illinois who were frustrated by a lack of guidance on how to think about alternative service delivery methods for public services, and in what circumstances different alternatives were more or less successful. This handbook is written for both appointed managers and elected officials who are looking for innovative ways to consider service delivery and want to answer the basic question, “Can we be doing this better?” Why does your local government want to consider providing public services in new, alternative ways? As the cases in this handbook demonstrate, jurisdictions that successfully develop and implement an alternative service delivery method are driven by a desire to improve service effectiveness. Local governments that move from tactical to strategic thinking about service delivery are the ones more likely to improve services using different forms of alternative service delivery. The kinds of issues and types of questions examined in this handbook range from how to best handle such demand-driven services as allocation of police and fire resources to how to share expensive equipment that your jurisdiction needs only some of the time. The stories, solutions, and evidence are intended to help local government officials understand the differences between delivery alternatives and the prerequisites for developing and implementing each option.