What Happened?
Consolidated services and energy alliances are making waves by boosting government efficiency, performance and overall cost savings.
NY County Efficiency Plan
Lowville, New York, recently joined the Lewis County government efficiency plan that calls for a number of shared services and consolidation strategies designed to save taxpayer dollars while improving delivery of services. The 18 municipalities in the government efficiency plan will work together to draft and submit plans that project cost savings for 2017, 2018 and 2019. The savings must be at least 1 percent of the 2014 tax levy.
The Lewis County government efficiency plan expects to save $280,813 if all towns and villages involved work together and follow through on the projects. Through partnerships between different municipal agencies, the collaborative expects to meet the savings requirement set forth by the state within the first two years of implementation, Watertown Daily Times reported.
Property Tax Freeze Credit
The multi-city government efficiency plan is the result of a property tax freeze credit that was established by the New York State government in 2014. Under the law, a state approved government efficiency plan must demonstrate three year savings and efficiencies of at least 1 percent.
The goal of the initiative is to encourage local governments and school districts to work together to generate long-term tax relief for state taxpayers through shared services, consolidation strategies or other innovation tactics to eliminate operational inefficiencies. By June 2015, each local government and school district must submit a government efficiency plan to ensure taxpayers receive a tax freeze credit for the year.
To assist in the development and deployment of a government efficiency plan, the state of New York is offering technical assistance and competitive grants to eligible municipalities:
- Local Government Efficiency Grant: Competitive grant for local governments seeking to reduce municipal expenses and property taxes by planning new service delivery efficiencies
- Local Government Citizens Reorganization Empowerment Grant: Noncompetitive grant providing funding to study, plan and implement restructuring of local governments
Last year, New York announced $142,750 will be available for the Local Government Efficiency Grant program and $65,000 for the Local Government Citizens Reorganization Empowerment Grant program.
Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance
While some cities are teaming up to reduce wasteful spending, other major cities worldwide are collaborating to achieve carbon neutrality through energy efficiency improvements. The Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance is a collaboration of internationally cities committing to achieving long-term carbon reduction goals through teamwork. The alliance currently includes:
- Berlin, Germany
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Boulder, Colorado
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- London, England
- Melbourne, Australia
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- New York City, New York
- Oslo, Norway
- Portland, Oregon
- San Francisco, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Sydney, Australia
- Vancouver, Canada
- Washington, D.C.
- Yokohama, Japan
These cities are working together to develop best practices for reducing carbon emissions and achieving energy goals worldwide. The alliance’s goals include:
- Developing carbon neutrality planning standards
- Advancing transformative change in key urban sectors
- Advocating policy change
- Speaking with a common voice
- Creating an innovation fund
- Increasing alliance impact
The alliance aims to identify scalable strategies that can be successful in communities all over the globe, and help municipalities invest in the latest innovations to meet efficiency standards.
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