The infographic below is from a recent study reported in the The Municipal Year Book 2014, which shows that more communities are participating in shared services cooperation than ever before – increasing from 17 percent in 2002 to almost 24 percent in 2012. As a result of the cooperation, these communities are saving money, achieving economies of scale, and strengthening collaborative intergovernmental relations. It was also observed that the most common services provided in collaboration with neighboring cities and towns or between municipalities and the county in which they sit are social programs, for which economies of scale and regional coordination are important.

 

The data concludes that communities are looking to find greater economic efficiencies through the use of shared services. The Municipal Year Book 2014 article Intermunicipal Cooperation: The Growing Reform reports on findings from ICMA’s ongoing alternative service delivery (ASD) survey, which shows that intermunicipal contracting is now the most common delivery alternative, and it explores some of the reasons for this. It also discusses motivators and obstacles to ASD and notes that monitoring and evaluation of contracted services continue to be low. 

The Municipal Year Book 2014 provides important and timely analysis on alternative service delivery issues, and includes eight more articles packed with data on the issues important to local government management. Get your copy of The Municipal Year Book 2014, 100th Anniversary Commerative Edition, the definitive resource on local government data.