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Cleveland
Plain Dealer...
An Ohio budget to
usher in leaner local government
By The Plain Dealer Editorial Board
Gov. John Kasich’s first budget is a signal to every local government
official in Ohio -- and to the taxpayers they serve -- that this is a
new era. Call it an age of austerity. Or of simple realism.
You don’t have to agree with Kasich on everything -- and the budget
certainly misfires on some things, notably aid to public schools -- to
know he’s right about one thing: Local governments, libraries and
school districts need to change. They need to get leaner and smarter.
Some must streamline operations through mergers.
Kasich’s spending plan delivers this message with a hammer. He wants to
take away about half the Local Government Fund that sends cash to
counties and municipalities. He wants to reduce payments to libraries
and school districts. Even if the General Assembly tweaks the
governor’s plan, its broad outlines probably will remain intact.
Kasich’s caution that local governments refrain from raising taxes is
not particularly realistic given the size of the hammer blow, and
Ohio’s traditional -- albeit, traditionally shortsighted -- reliance on
local taxes. But Kasich’s aim is true: to force local governments to
change the way they operate.
It’s a goal Ohio’s fractured localities must embrace.
The private sector has been undergoing an often painful structural
transformation for decades. Companies have used technology to drive
efficiency. They constantly re-evaluate what they do and how they do it.
Governments, on the other hand, too often behave as if it’s still 1960
-- or will be, once tax receipts rebound.
During the first part of the 20th century, when Greater Cleveland’s
population and wealth were soaring, governments proliferated. Cuyahoga
County now has 59 municipalities and 31 school districts. Voters
tolerated redundancy to enjoy autonomy. They could afford it.
Not anymore. For the past decade, smart mayors and city managers have
been looking to shave costs by trimming employees and joining with
neighbors to buy supplies in bulk. The day Kasich unveiled his budget,
five mayors in eastern Cuyahoga County agreed to create a joint SWAT
unit and explore sharing other specialized units.
They’ve got the right idea, but they and their counterparts need to go
farther, faster.
Northeast Ohio’s Balkanized government is an unaffordable legacy cost
and a drag on prosperity. Cities and school districts need to take
dramatic cost-sharing steps, including buying services from neighbors,
sharing key personnel, purchasing health care benefits regionally or
statewide and, yes, even merging.
Take that last point. The seven independent suburban libraries could
set an example by joining the Cuyahoga County Public Library system,
one of the country’s very best. Most of those libraries do an
outstanding job, but the state is cutting their income again: Do they
need another wake-up call?
Kasich’s team promises to stoke the legislative and structural changes
needed to help induce communities to share more services and pool more
resources. The state needs also to help localities and school districts
reconfigure employee contracts in a constructive, not punitive, way.
Every unit of local government needs to become more regional to get
more efficient.
The 2010 census was a stark reminder that our region’s population and
resources are not growing. The good old days are behind us. But better
times will come to those who are willing to change.
Read it at the Cleveland Plain Dealer
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