Connecticut is a small state that has always prided itself on home rule and local control. This is why the idea of having 169 different local governments in a 5,500 square-mile state has been the norm for a long time, and why the concept of regionalization or local government reform has never really gotten off the ground here.
But fiscal necessity now says that some sort of major municipal reform — perhaps through the regionalization of certain local services — simply must take place sooner rather than later. Connecticut finds itself in a dire fiscal situation, with the state’s deficit already ballooning to hundreds of millions of dollars just two months after a two-year budget agreement was announced.
Closing that gap is only going to get harder and harder. We have an aging population in Connecticut, meaning people’s salaries are trending downward while their need for services is going up. This is a pattern that cannot be broken by the traditional means of higher taxes or major cuts. We must finally get serious about the way local governments do business.
The best way to begin the process towards reform is to do what businesses do — conduct a scientific and strategic assessment to gauge the outcome of services provided. This is a far more productive avenue to take than making hasty cuts, seeking political payback or union busting.
Here’s how an assessment could be conducted, and how Connecticut could actually begin the process of real reform:
1. Find The Right Process. Check the effectiveness and accountability of all municipal government services. Are they cost-effective? Are the right investments being made in technology and key resources? Can things run better? This is an essential first step.
2. Examine Benchmarks. Now we can start to examine benchmarks to identify what works and what doesn’t work. This way, government services can be merged rationally and sensitively.
3. Use Data to Implement Reform. The information collected through the first two steps can now be used to identify high-value changes as well as the best way to make those changes.
4. Incentivize Municipal Participation. Lastly, the state can play an essential role in providing municipalities with incentives to regionalize. One specific idea is to tie a portion of municipal aid to a mandate requiring towns to regionalize certain services, such as 911 call centers or consolidation of certain public safety departments. Another idea is finding convenient ways for cities and towns to privatize certain services on a regional basis.Â
The business community can take the lead here. The state’s eight regional chambers of commerce had the right idea recently in calling for a public/private working group to examine reform-based measures, including regionalization.
But we also need buy-in from our state’s political leaders. The governor, the state Legislature, and local elected officials all need to get on board with the idea of conducting a detailed, accurate assessment to establish benchmarks, find the areas where reform is most needed and implement the right changes.
Connecticut’s history has been one that has long belied the idea of regionalization of services at the local level. That is the old way of thinking; clearly some new ideas are needed if we are to see a prosperous future. But real reform cannot start on its own.Our state’s leaders need to provide the impetus to make it happen.
This can work, without a doubt. But we cannot wait any longer. The time is now to get the process of genuine government reform underway.
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Brian Renstrom is a partner at BlumShapiro, an accounting and consulting firm that represents more than 60 cities and towns in Connecticut. He is based out of the firm’s West Hartford office.
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