In an exclusive Guest Column, Ohio State Controlling Board President Randy Cole provides insights, experiences, and lessons on “shared services,” including three This Guest Column was contributed by Randy Cole, Controlling Board President and Policy Advisor for the State of Ohio Office of Budget and Management.
Ohio’s municipal governments—and the taxpayers who support them—face a critical dilemma that could force many to the breaking point. Counties, townships and local school districts face similar challenges of their own. While public expectations for government services and education continue to grow, the already high costs of meeting those needs are rising at an even faster pace.
That’s not a new problem, but the old solutions no longer work; there is little public support for higher taxes or fees that might help cover the gap. We can’t attract businesses and young families to Ohio by cutting services. That old standby, “belt-tightening,” is just not enough.
In the face of this challenge, it’s clear that our schools and local governments must find new and more creative ways to reduce their costs and improve efficiency. They must become smarter about spending taxpayer dollars, and recognize that the old ways of doing business simply can’t continue. Shared services—a new and better way—can provide that hope.
The Plan & Examples
Knowing that shared services can help resolve this dilemma, Ohio Governor John Kasich’s administration recently released a new, comprehensive plan of action: Beyond Boundaries: A Shared Services Action Plan for Ohio Schools and Governments. The plan, and its ten recommendations for action and numerous other resources, provides local officials with a roadmap to achieving the cost-saving efficiencies of shared services. Using real-life examples of successes already working in Ohio, the plan spotlights proven, positive results from collaboration that goes across traditional boundaries and jurisdictional lines.
Among many examples documented in the report:
- Administration & Services: Several years ago, the City of Green partnered with the Green Local School District to construct and share facilities in a new 53,671-square-foot central administration building. The city also partners with neighboring jurisdictions to save an estimated $2 million annually through contracts to share police, building-inspection and public health services.
- Technology: Regional coordination of shared technology services, along with development of regional data centers and shared “cloud services,” could yield at least $91 million in savings, with a potential savings of more than $150 million annually.
- Communication: Utilizing MARCS (the state’s Multi-Agency Radio Communication System) at a statewide level through coordination of “system of systems” in areas of high communication demand could yield more than $500 million in savings to ongoing capital and operating expenses for public entities between 2012 and 2020.
- Consolidation: In 2009, the City of Akron entered into agreement with Summit County to consolidate the Akron Building Department into the county’s Division of Building Standards. Two years later, the City of Cuyahoga Falls, City of Tallmadge and Village of Silver Lake followed suit. As a result, this collaborative effort now provides services in 25 of the county’s 31 communities and yields and estimated total savings of nearly $1.2 million per year. The cities of Akron, Cuyahoga Falls and Tallmadge report significant additional savings by not funding separate operations.
Additional examples and recent updates are provided in a “Shared Services” section of the Ohio Municipal League website.
A Collective Effort
Based on an in-depth survey of existing efforts and attitudes in Ohio, Beyond Boundaries is the work of numerous education and local government professionals from across the state, including valuable input from the Ohio Municipal League. Drawing on lessons learned from that survey, the plan presents a comprehensive study of public policy recommendations, potential collaborations and needed changes both in the law and in public attitudes that can transform the way of doing business in Ohio’s public sector.
Lessons
Three important steps are necessary for the shared services solution to take hold:
- Tone at the Top: First, the governor and legislature must continue making the statutory and policy changes needed to expedite the use of shared services across Ohio. Governor Kasich and engaged legislators have already made important progress on this first step. Provisions in the Kasich Jobs Budget, passed and signed in June 2011, removed legal roadblocks to shared services and added financial incentives to spur local government innovation. A number of other improvements in state law were made in June 2012, a result of the governor’s Mid-Biennium Budget Review. The OML and its members contributed important recommendations for reform as the Jobs Budget and Mid-Biennium Budget Review were formulated.
- Information & Tools: A second crucial step is to provide information and tools that will be needed by local leaders to realize the shared services opportunities available to them and to act when those opportunities make sense. Beyond Boundaries is one great tool in that role.
- Leadership: Finally, as step three, local leaders must truly be leaders, willing to take immediate, broad action.
These are hard steps to take, no doubt, but they’re all necessary to ensure the continued well-being of communities where we live, raise our families and hope to see local business thrive.
Local government leaders interested in the shared services solution, as well as citizens who want to encourage those leaders to succeed, should read Beyond Boundaries and take its lessons to heart. The full report and related materials are available www.beyondboundaries.ohio.gov.