E pluribus unum?
A little more than a week after a commission charged with finding ways to reduce the cost of local government released its recommendations, the process of implementing some of those suggestions has begun.
Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer formed the New York State Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness one year ago. Its members conducted public hearings across the state over the last 12 months to examine possibilities for consolidation or shared services in government.
The report noted that there are more than 4,700 taxing entities in New York, and offered 76 recommendations to ease the pressure on local property taxes.
Recommendations include consolidating some local government services and centralizing some local government functions like tax collection, emergency dispatch, civil service and records offices; overhauling the county jail system and opportunities for consolidating school districts.
Gov. David Paterson, in an Albany press conference after the commission”™s report was released, expressed desire to begin laying the groundwork for many of the recommendations.
“With the cost of living skyrocketing, and the need for governments everywhere to deal with fiscal realities, we need to help our working families by doing everything we can to lower the cost of government,” said Paterson. “We cannot achieve real, sustainable property tax relief without addressing local government efficiency, and this commission has produced a series of recommendations, which I will now work diligently with the Legislature to implement.”
That came as welcome news to John Clarkson, executive director of the commission, who said he believes the governor is serious about taking on the issue of local government efficiency.
“I think generally, there is a positive push to achieve many of these recommendations,” he said.
Clarkson said that progress is being made, as the state has already approved funding for Local Government Efficiency grants.
The grants will be awarded under the Shared Municipal Services Incentive (SMSI) program, which aims to reduce the cost of local government via technical assistance and competitive grants for projects that will trim costs and promote shared services among localities. On May 1, the governor announced $13.7 million in grants under this program.
“It”™s already starting to be successful,” he said.
Clarkson acknowledged that talk of consolidation, especially when it comes to school districts, is often met with resistance.
The commission conducted several town hall-style meetings across the state over the past year, and heard a lot of “pushback” from residents opposed to some of the recommended changes, said Clarkson.
“But we also heard from the other side, people who want us to look at the big picture and how taxes can be lowered,” he said.
Clarkson said the commission is not out to force government entities to consolidate or share services, but rather, “to enable and encourage more change in a few select areas that demand it.”
Though the commission”™s time as a deliberative body is at an end, enacting many of its recommended changes is still in the beginning stages.
In the Hudson Valley, Pattern for Progress has spearheaded a similar committee to look at opportunities for more efficient government.
“We”™ve been interested in the structuring of local government for years,” said Jonathan Drapkin, president and CEO of Pattern for Progress. “This report contains many interesting and innovative ways of restructuring local government and maybe there are some new ideas specific to the Hudson Valley.”
Drapkin, who served on the state Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness for the past year, said the Hudson Valley committee will conduct its first public meeting May 30.
“What (the committee) believes is that we should be open to discussion,” he said. “If we were creating a government from scratch, would this be the most efficient way to create it?”
The Hudson Valley committee counts many government employees among its members, including its chairman, Orange County Executive Edward Diana.
“Independent of the Commission”™s report, I support the effort to find ways to make government more efficient,” Diana said. “We have been working on this in Orange County, and I welcome the opportunity to broaden the discussion in the region.”