July 24, 2012 – Governing magazine has a regular segment offering ideas from across the country for local governments that provide better, faster and/or cheaper services. As this video implies, the magazine encourages replicating such an approach, so we are going to apply the concept to our weekly blog, using successfully implemented ideas from our member communities that you can hopefully apply to your local government. Here goes:
| Western Wayne Criminal Investigation Section |
The Western Wayne Criminal Investigations Section is a collaboration of ten communities who together loan between one and two officers to the unit. This unit consists of a number of teams dedicated to assisting communities handle issues concerning narcotics investigations, auto theft investigations, and a community response team. |
| City of Mount Clemens Cost Reductions |
As a member of the Macomb Area Communities for Regional Opportunities (MACRO), the following internal efficiencies and external shared services were identified so the MACRO group could better understand the existing relationship before exploring new collaborative opportunities. |
| Northfield Twp. Reducing Insurance Costs |
In order to reduce costs associated with the liability insurance for the townships five buildings and 35 employees, Northfield Township decided to look for alternative carriers. The strategy would reduce costs while maintaining an equal level of coverage. |
| Troy Restructuring City Staff |
The City of Troy is restructuring its staff to move from many departments to a few "service bureaus". This transformation will group departments with similar needs and functions to be able to better assist the public, and accommodate the shrinking staff. |
| Southfield General Fund Strategic Plan |
The City of Southfield has implemented a five-year strategic plan to better budget the use of the city's general fund account. Because the city has a large number of departments utilizing money from the general fund, the city has found itself going over budget and spending levels. |
| Royal Oak General Funds Cost Allocations |
The City of Royal Oak has developed a cost allocation system that allows the finance department to bill each non-direct service department in the city for their use of general funds money. A few examples include all building, recreation, and road maintenance department's general fund usage being billed back to the user department. |
| Warren Storm Sewer Dye Testing |
This project included performing dye testing in the City of Warren sanitary and storm sewer system collection system. The goal was to identify and eliminate illicit connections from the sanitary sewer to the storm water (stream). In addition, water quality monitoring was performed to determine the successes of the projects. |
| Huntington Woods' Single Stream Recycling |
The Cities of Huntington Woods and Beverly Hills started a single stream recycling pilot program to the state EECBG program. In partnership with SOCRRA, each community has been implementing their pilot program. |
For assistance developing and implementing similar ideas in your community, contact Dave Boerger at Boerger@semcog.org.
Learn how to navigate fiscal uncertainty by improving efficiency, fostering collaboration, and providing information on right-sizing. Through weekly posts, Dave will discuss legislative developments, best practices, and training opportunities.
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