Ten Ideas to Save Municipalities Money

Ten Ideas to Save Municipalities Money

#1 -- Refuse collection

The town of Oakville, in southern Ontario, has succeeded in saving $240,000 a year in refuse collection costs through a combination of recycling measures and the adoption of more efficient trash collection practices. The town has switched to a one man truck system, which reduce costs 20-40% from the traditional two and three person crew system.
The town attempted to privatize refuse collection shortly after these efficiency measures were introduced but the town s public works employees submitted the lowest bid and retained the service with the introduction of even more efficient routes and effective utilization of personnel. This example makes two important points; the threat of privatization is a strong motivating force and the public sector can compete with the private sector if they want to.

#2 -- Fire protection
As financial resources continue to dwindle, there is growing recognition that paying firefighters handsome salaries to sit at the station waiting for a fire to occur is inefficient and costly. Some municipalities have required their firefighters to take on other duties, such as rebuilding or even constructing fire trucks or repairing parking meters. Others have implemented comprehensive inspection and fire prevention programs which utilize the knowledge of these highly trained employees. Such programs are proving highly successful, and often lead to reductions in property loss and insurance premiums, savings which benefit the entire community. Some forward looking municipalities have gone so far as to contract out their fire protection services to private contractors, while others augment their force with more volunteers, allowing them to reduce the number of full-time staff.

#3 -- Policing
A community s police service is one of the most difficult municipal services to reform. The safety of our families is important, and changes to policing is an emotional issue. Further, police departments are usually governed by autonomous boards. Nevertheless, there are significant opportunities to cut costs without sacrificing public safety simply by evaluating the budget received by the Department before it is approved by the municipal government.
The best way to reduce costs is to identify ways to use police more efficiently and thus provide the same level of service with fewer people. Some municipalities have reduced paperwork performed by high salaried police officers, by providing them with tape recorders and computers, allowing them more time for active police work. Many departments involve their personnel in crime prevention, drug awareness, and school programs, while others involve their officers in all phases of police work rather than segregating responsibilities.
One reform that has been successfully implemented in Europe and throughout North America is to combine the fire department and the police department to form a public safety department. This combination of fire and police can dramatically reduce the number of employees since every employee is cross-trained and available as needed for emergencies. Whatever the reform, the key is to remember that the police force belongs to and serves the citizens of the community, and should reflect the community s goals, values, and ability to pay.

#4 -- Snow removal
Most municipalities in Canada have sizable budget allocations for the removal of snow from streets and sidewalks. In many cases, the amounts allocated for snow removal are higher than they should be because creative cost saving ideas are not passed on from one municipality to another. For example, the city of Kitchener eliminated standby private snow removal crews and cross trained parks and recreation staff to provide backup capabilities, for a total savings of $150,000. Scarborough saved $120,000 by evaluating snow removal equipment and using the most efficient equipment.
Other cost-saving ideas include allowing snow to accumulate to higher levels before removal, sharing equipment and personnel between neighboring municipalities, and getting citizens and businesses to clear their own sidewalks.

#5 -- Road maintenance
Road maintenance is another very high cost item in most municipal budgets. Many municipalities waste money by not rebuilding roads when they should because of short term budget constraints. This produces false cost savings in most cases because delayed road repairs usually end up costing more due to accelerated road deterioration.
Some departments (Region of Ottawa-Carleton for example) have introduced a full cost-accounting system which takes into consideration the impact of road conditions on costs incurred by drivers such as tires, shocks, oil and gas consumption. There are also delays and accidents which could be factored in when calculating the cost of fixing or not fixing a road system. Sharing equipment and employees between departments and between municipalities is becoming more popular. Several municipalities have outsourced or privatized various parts of their road maintenance programs with much success.

#6 -- Management
Virtually every municipality has too many supervisors and too many managers compared to the private sector. Business and public sector organizations are seeing a trend to fewer managers with those remaining  being transformed from being the "boss" to being a coach or facilitator. Staff are placed in teams, and take more responsibility for planning their work. At the same time, the ratio of managers to staff is changing from one manager for every five or even ten staff, to one manager for every 50 to 100 staff.
Municipalities can reduce their costs substantially by moving to the team concept, which yields other benefits such as increased staff and management morale, enhanced productivity, and improved service levels. The City of Owen Sound, Ontario (population 20,000) recently eliminated one of three senior management positions in the Public Works department. Now, each crew selects a lead hand who directs the work at each site, and the town is saving more than $60,000 per year.

#7 -- Consulting studies
In far too many cases, municipalities fall back on consulting studies to help them deal with difficult or sensitive issues. If managers and staff receive appropriate training in program evaluation and problem-solving techniques and in the use of performance measures, they are able to avoid many of the problems which require the use of outside consultants.
The principal factors which cause an over-reliance on consulting studies are a lack of confidence in staff expertise, the established habit of using consultants and an overall resistance to change.

#8 -- Inspection services
Most municipalities still separate their various inspection services according to rigid departmental activities such as building, plumbing, electrical, bylaw enforcement, and fire. Some municipalities have merged responsibilities for some of these activities, but there is room for much more consolidation.
Technology has given municipal inspectors the ability to carry computers which provide the information they require on their inspection. Many municipalities are realizing the cost benefits of cross-training inspectors in a number of areas, reducing the number of specialists required.

#9 -- Get input
Municipal employees are often the source of the best ideas of cost savings. Unfortunately, their opinion is rarely solicited. Many progressive municipalities are  endeavoring to include both employee and community resources in their decision making process. The catch phrase used to describe this change is Total Quality Management, but what it really boils down to is good old common sense.
After all, it is only good sense to ask  employees how they can improve the services they deliver and actually put them into teams responsible for identifying and solving operational problems. Every municipality should be implementing Total Quality Management so that they might harness the energy and ideas of their citizens and their employees.

#10 -- Economic development
Community economic development has been one of the least cost-effective enterprises of municipalities. Millions of dollars have been spent in an attempt to bring new businesses into communities across Canada, with very little success. The reason is simple: new businesses are more likely to be attracted to a community with reasonable tax levels and a healthy progressive business environment than to one that is in a steady state of decline.
What these offices should have been doing was to concentrate on keeping their existing businesses happy and healthy. Business retention and expansion activities have helped to avoid the continual deterioration of jobs, particularly if these retention efforts were aimed at helping businesses to strengthen the quality of their operations. Several municipalities have initiated business incubator programs to promote new businesses, started training programs for new and existing businesses, and changed legislation to encourage businesses operated in homes. Joint committees of business, labour and government have had much success, as have apprenticeship programs designed by businesses and schools. The best economic development programs seem to emerge from strong community-based strategic plans because the best ideas are captured and strong support is more likely.
Municipal decision making can be affected by concerned and informed citizens. However, it will take perseverance on the part of a community s citizens, combined with sound political leadership and enlightened management. The main difference between municipalities with excellent services and low tax rates compared to those with average or poor services and high tax rates is the degree to which they strive to find a better way to deliver services.