Government Collaboration
WHAT IS IT
At the root of everything we do to move the region forward economically grow businesses, create a quality place to live, prepare workers for the future, improve public transportation is the need for the region's many cities, counties and townships to work together.
Partner Sites: Government Collaboration and Efficiency
WHY IT MATTERS
Getting beyond our basic understanding of the importance of collaboration, there are two key reasons why it is critical for our public officials to join forces:
- By speaking in a unified voice, we are more likely to be heard in Columbus, in Washington, D.C., and around the world. Also, as a region that can articulate its strengths, we can market our assets more effectively around the world.
- Government expenses are skyrocketing even as property tax and sales tax revenues decline. In order to continue to provide high-quality services to their citizens, local governments must find ways to save money by sharing resources and reducing costs.
WHERE WE ARE
Southwest Ohio has the distinction of being a patchwork of 130 political jurisdictions: four counties with 80 cities and villages and 50 townships, plus scores of school districts, fire districts and other public service providers. These many entities make for unique communites with strong identities. But they can be a hurdle when it comes to working together. They create overlapping services difficult communication and self-interested behavior. If local governments aren't connected by a broader regional plan, we end up forfeiting the benefits of our collective strength. The nonprofit public-policy group The Brookings Institution says in today's world, there is not one big economy at work but a network of local and metro economies that relate to each other, to the nation and to the world in new and sophisticated ways. Metro areas are the new economic engine of the U.S. This is especially true in Ohio, where 81 percent of the population lives in metropolitan areas. The Brookings findings may sound academic, but in fact the concept is quite relevant to all of us. It drives how we make decisions as a community and how we make progress on best using our government groups to attract talent and create jobs and economic opportunity for all who call the region home.
2010 State of the County AddressIn the 2010 State of the County Address, Commission President David Pepper outlines successes related to:
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WHERE WE'RE GOING
In order to overcome the artificial boundaries of many jurisdictions, we must realize that we are all tied to a core city that is the economic driver for our region. Even though we might live in Blue Ash or Middletown, we are linked not just by our infrastructure but by our interests. We need to agree on the direction to go, the actions to take and the vision for the future of the region. Then we need to put aside parochial interests in order to get there. What does "working together" mean? here are three strategies identified by Agenda 360 for helping local jurisdictions to collaborate.
Expand shared services practices
We must find ways to expand on existing programs that allow governments to save money and create ways to be more efficient. The state of Ohio is even providing incentives for communities that collaborate. The Ohio Economic Development Promise includes a new Local Government Services and Regional Collaboration Grant Program. In the first round in fall 2008, 15 communities received $1 million. The City of Cincinnati received $63,350 to study ways to share operation and maintenance of heavy vehicle equipment among jurisdictions in hamilton County. Hamilton County received $59,725 to study creating uniform building, property maintenance, zoning and fire codes.
Increase regional leadership capacity
We have strong elected officials here who care greatly about their communities. They understand the challenges their communities are facing. Now we need to create in them a greater understanding of the region's challenges. We also need to build relationships so that when elected officials call on each other for help, they share a spirit of openness and teamwork.
Exploring multi-jurisdictional revenue sharing
Too often today one local jurisdiction convinces a company to move there from another local jurisdiction a zero-sum game for the region. If jurisdictions shared the tax revenue when they landed a new business, they would be more motivated to work together to recruit companies from outside the region. This idea may be a long way off, but it would be a way to raise the economic level of the whole region.
GETTING STARTED
The following are initiatives the Agenda 360 research has so far identified as good ways to make progress on the above strategies for government collaboration. They are just a start; new programs and initiatives will be found, created and evolve with the changing needs of our community.
Government Cooperation and efficiency Project
The Government Cooperation and Efficiency Project was launched in 2007 in Hamilton County to help local communities control their costs to taxpayers for things such as purchasing road salt, office supplies and fuel, maintaining fire hydrants and striping road pavement. A total of 20 cities, villages and townships documented service-delivery savings of $1.5 million in the first year.
Leadership 360
Agenda 360 is putting forward a plan for a program that would help increase local leadership's understanding of the critical issues facing our region. The program is called Leadership 360, and it would be run by the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the University of Cincinnati. The program is envisioned as an annual leadership opportunity for elected and appointed officials in the Tri-State to develop and strengthen personal relationships while giving them in-depth exposure to our regional plan and priorities. The program could actually turn the region's many jurisdictions into a strength by creating a national model for collaboration.
Business Outreach Protocol
The Business Outreach Protocol would call on leaders of local communities to create a sort of courtesy pact. The approach, which is modeled after a Montgomery County, Ohio, program, would require local governments to agree not to poach each other's companies with aggressive recruiting and to give each other notice when they are in discussions with a business in one area about moving or expanding into their area. So if, for instance, a company in Butler County needs to grow and is talking to a Hamilton County community about moving some of its workers there, the Hamilton County community will give a courtesy call about it to Butler County. The Protocol would be a tool for the Cincinnati USA Partnership, which works to recruit and retain businesses across the 15-county region. The partnership is already a model for collaboration because nearly 200 companies and public economic development agencies invest to support its mission of promoting the region as a whole to businesses around the world.