Interlocal Cooperation, Shared Services, and Community Resilience

<p>Rick Morse is a School of Government faculty member.</p> <p>In my last post I highlighted the importance of interlocal cooperation as a key strategy for local governments to “do more with less.” I would like to share a couple of short articles that connect to this line of thinking and make a connection to the idea of community resilience.</p> <p>First, regarding the fiscal crisis local governments face, most experts agree that this is a long-term problem. While some describe this period as “the new normal,” Bill Barnes of the National League of Cities, citing the work of his colleague Christopher Hoene, points out that a more appropriate term would be that we are returning to the “old normal.” The Great Recession has only exposed “a lot of underlying challenges in our system of public finance.” In other words, the impacts of the great recession are not short term. Barnes says that</p> <p style="padding-left: 30px">“It’s beginning to look a lot like a long slog ahead. So, unconventional thinking, scenario planning and wondering what short-term actions will mean for the longer term seem in order.”</p> <p>Indeed, for communities to not only survive, but thrive, in this state of long-term fiscal crisis, they will need to be open to doing things differently. Interlocal cooperation is high on the list of innovative approaches some local governments are turning to.</p> <p>There are many different forms of interlocal cooperation, but one that is receiving increased attention nationwide is a strategy often called “service sharing” or “shared services.” The core idea is that multiple jurisdictions can achieve greater [...]</p>