The Empire Page

Background:  When the NYS Legislature charged the Dept. of State to encourage local government to consider the sharing of services, it soon became apparent that someone would have to help local government leaders take advantage of the program.  DOS entered into a partnership with the Government Law Center of the Albany Law School, charging the later to develop a shared services information network with other academic institutions, regional planning agencies, state agencies and other interested parties.  The Empire Page asked Patricia Salkin, director of the Government Law Center, about their partnership with DOS.

 

Q. What was the impetus behind the creation of the Shared Municipal Services Technical Assistance Initiative at Albany Law School?

A. The Government Law Center (GLC) has a long history of providing policy-neutral legal research is support of government policy making.  After the initial year of providing shared service grants to local governments, it became clear a substantial effort would be necessary to educate local officials on the legal requirements and merits of shared service arrangements in order to stimulate applications for grants.  The second year appropriation for State grants provided money to the GLC to develop those technical assistance components.

 

Q. Can you give us an example of the interrelationship of shared services and “Smart Growth” land use policy?

A. To achieve sustainable communities in the land use, community development and municipal service contexts, individual units of local government must recognize the connectivity that exists within a geographic area that transcends municipal boundary lines that were arbitrarily set on a map.  Efforts that promote smart growth and shared services result in an examination of issues and solutions that more often involve multiple units of government partnering to achieve better results for neighborhoods, communities and regions.

 

Q. There are many other academic institutions in New York that have a strong interest in local government.  Has any effort been made to include them in your work?

A. Yes.  One of the first things we did was to establish a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) consisting of:

• Twelve (12) four-year academic institutions with existing local government research and/or technical assistance capabilities;

• Associations representing all of the types of municipalities eligible for funding under the SMSI grant program (counties, cities, towns, villages, school districts, and fire districts);

• State executive branch agencies with local government responsibilities or interests (Department of State, Division of the Budget, and the Office of the State Comptroller) or responsibilities specific to the SMSI program (Department of Civil Service and Department of Transportation); and

• Interested legislative branch agencies (Commission on Rural Resources, Commission on State Local Relations, local government and finance committees).

 

Q. How is the work of the GLC being made available to directly assist local governments?  Are they using the information?

A. We developed a set of two dozen case studies and research reports specific to local government shared service projects.  Further, in conjunction with the Legislative Commission on State-Local Relations, our students updated the full scope of legal requirements relating to most of the major local government services, such as highways and police.  All of these materials are available on the web [see www.dos.state.ny.us.]  From talking to people at conferences and professional meetings, and through phone calls we know that people are using the materials and finding them helpful.

 

Q. How has the GLC contributed to efforts make local governments aware of the opportunity for funding support?

A. I think two specific examples illustrate how we’ve helped get the word out.  Last year we developed a specific agenda for a series of regionally-based conferences that showcased the shared services grant program and provided direct assistance from Department of State (DOS) staff.  Over 1,000 people attended the 14 conferences and as a result of that success, DOS is repeating the process this fall.

The second example involves the GLC’s role in producing the Government, Law and Policy Journal for the New York Bar Association’s Committee on Attorneys in Public Service.  It is sent to over 5,000 attorneys, including municipal attorneys.  The January, 2008 issue was devoted entirely to shared municipal services.  It was in such demand that about a thousand extra copies were published and distributed. The Bar Association has even made it available to non members on their web site.

 

Q. Can you provide some specific examples of technical assistance products the GLC has developed, and how they are being used?

A. In addition to the fall conferences and issue of the Government, Law and Policy Journal I just discussed, the GLC devised a uniform “template” for researching and writing case study experiences of local government efforts to provide shared services.  These are very extensively researched descriptions of shared service projects that were conducted by the academic institutions we partnered with, and they contain copies of all the legal agreements, feasibility studies, and any additional  documents produced that would help other local governments trying to implement similar shared service projects.  These case studies are posted on the DOS web site at www.dos.state.ny. 

Q. Transparency in the use of government money is very important.  How do you measure and report your progress?

A. The quick answer is that we provide DOS with detailed program and fiscal reports quarterly, and will provide a final project report at the end of the contract.  I should also mention that part of that reporting involves subcontracts with academic institutions and researchers - - about half of our contract is spent this way.  We developed a simplified and more efficient contracting and payment process to use with them which allowed us to produce twice the number of case studies expected.

 

Q. You mentioned earlier the success in focusing efforts of many academic institutions on supporting shared service efforts.  What do you see as the next steps in that process?

A. We have demonstrated that New York’s academic institutions can be “networked” to collectively focus on major issues of statewide concern.  I think we have the opportunity to build the next generation of informational infrastructure in providing technical assistance by formalizing this network and continually adding new partners, such as regional planning agencies.  We’ve proposed this idea to our Technical Advisory Group and there is broad support for it.  The next steps would include strengthening the Department of State’s web site to allow for full functionality as a clearinghouse; and establishing appropriate links with each of the network partners.

 

Q. How does the Shared Municipal Services Technical Assistance Initiative at GLC fit in with the mission of the Albany Law School, and especially the education of law students?

A. The Albany Law School capitalizes on its close physical proximity to State government to offer students real life experience in the workings of government.  Many of our students end up working in State and local government, and we have been able to offer shared service legal research opportunities to almost a dozen students so far.  In fact, one of the first student researchers we hired now works for State government, and another works for local government. In addition, this project has presented students with opportunities to publish scholarship.

 

Q. Recently the Governor has said the State faces a substantial budget deficit and has presented some options to the Legislature that would reduce the amount of aid to local governments.  Can sharing services help local governments meet this fiscal retrenchment?

A. The Governor’s Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness stated in their final report this past April that “Local government consolidation and service sharing can save money . . .” and went on to estimate the amount at around $1 billion for the areas they were able to examine.  While many question that assertion, we’ve noticed a strong interest from local officials in exploring the potential for shared services.  The shared service grant program administered by the DOS annually receives about 250 applications, and there are now over 160 active projects receiving funding.  The GLC and DOS have submitted a plan for additional, on-going technical assistance to support the successful implementation of these initiatives, and begin evaluating results.