University of Wisconsin - Extension

As many as 20 Wisconsin counties, 300 cities and villages and 500 towns are affected by a new state requirement that local governments share services with other local governments. This requirement could affect how long term state shared revenues are distributed and is the subject of a Wisconsin Counties Association educational seminar for elected and appointed county officials. The seminar on Consolidation and Service Coordination will focus on countywide service agreements and will take place July 29, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Sheraton Madison Hotel, 706 John Nolen Drive in Madison. Representatives from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Local Government Center, UW-La Crosse, and a Milwaukee law firm will be the featured speakers.

Twenty Wisconsin counties are in designated federal standard statistical areas (SSAs), mostly in urban parts of the state, and will be covered by a new requirement in state law, Act 16 of State Budget Act. Under the new state merger requirements these counties will have until January 1, 2003 to sign ¿Area Cooperation Compacts¿ or agreements for services with two other local government entities (cities, villages, towns or other counties). The compacts must also provide benchmarks to measure outcomes that demonstrate success and cost savings to the taxpayers.

In addition, the recent state budget repair bill, now on Governor McCallum¿s desk awaiting signature, contains $45 million to reward other local governments and counties that go together to share a major service. Local governments which can demonstrate cost savings could qualify for one year of State revenues equal to up to 75 percent of such savings based on current language before the Governor.

University of Wisconsin-Extension conducted a study of best practices in local government service mergers beginning in November of 2000. Nine of these best practices are available as case studies on the Local Government Center web site at http://www.uwex.edu/lgc/intergov/intergov.htm . Among the best practices featured are:

The North Shore Fire District was created in 1995 from fire departments of the north Milwaukee suburban communities of Bayside, Brown Deer, Fox Point, Glendale, Shorewood, Whitefish Bay and River Hills. Three of the villages had merged dispatch in 1992. In 1992-93, the City of Milwaukee Fire Department suspended mutual aid to surrounding communities, which meant the smaller communities lost their back up for larger fires. After the merger, two of the facilities were closed and all firefighters are now union members, full-time responders, and cross-trained as Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT¿s). The consolidation has resulted in improved response times throughout the district, the ability to respond unhindered to locations in any of seven communities, less administration, more consistent fire/building code enforcement, and better response coverage to large emergency events. The District has been granted a higher level of paramedic certification and insurance rates in every community have been upgraded, saving millions of dollars in annual premiums for private building owners. Milwaukee County taxpayers have benefited through contracts with the district for exclusive and increased quality of Emergency Medical Service to the northeast quadrant of the County.

Due to rapid growth of communities around the City of Green Bay, Brown County began contracting police service with various villages and towns about 30 years ago, including the villages of Allouez and Howard. The Brown County Police Patrol Contracting Program

provides county deputies to patrol local streets. The villages provide vehicles and radios, while the county provides the officers and administration. Because it can offer higher wages and benefits, the county pays for salaries and training and handles union contracts and negotiations. The villages have the advantage of a large, specialized department without the full cost, saving considerable sums for taxpayers and resulting in less turnover among officers on the job.

The Taylor County Recycling Authority is a consortium of 17 municipalities, representing about 40 percent of the Taylor County population. Currently, there are 15 towns and two villages collecting and marketing recyclables under a joint agreement administered by the County. Each municipality is responsible for their own solid waste contract with the county and must provide a collection site and site attendants during operating hours. The County provides a recycling trailer at each site and administers the state grant, the budget and accounting. UW-Extension provides education on recycling and involved area schools in the Clean Sweep program and a logo contest.

The Fox Cities Economic Development Partnership has worked with UW-Extension to identify potential areas of economic growth and development in Outagamie and Winnebago counties. The partnership is a consortium of four cities, three villages, two counties and three towns that conducts joint marketing to bring industrial parks and commerce to all communities in the area. A UW-Extension economic opportunity study targeted eight sectors of the local economy with opportunities for growth and identified gaps and disconnects between local supplies and imports of products. The study recommends efforts to strengthen local entrepreneurial activities and focus on growth in service sectors such as health care services. Other industries identified with strong potential include computer and data processing, management, engineering and architectural consulting services, advertising and commercial printing. The Partnership focuses its efforts on attracting new jobs in the $12 to $19 an hour range.

The federal standard statistical areas that include Wisconsin counties are:

• Appleton-Oshkosh (Calumet, Outagamie and Winnebago counties)

• Eau Claire (Chippewa County)

• Green Bay (Brown County)

• Janesville-Beloit (Rock County)

• Kenosha (Kenosha County)

• La Crosse (La Crosse County)

• Madison (Dane County)

• Milwaukee-Waukesha (Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties)

• Racine (Racine County)

• Sheboygan (Sheboygan County)

• Wausau (Marathon County)

• Duluth-Superior (Douglas County)

• Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn. (Pierce and St. Croix counties)

For more information about the new state merger requirements for cooperation compacts, contact your UW-Extension county office or Dan Elsass, UW-Extension Local Government Center, at 608-262-5103 or email to dfelsass@facstaff.wisc.edu"> dfelsass@facstaff.wisc.edu.

To register for the seminar on Consolidation and Service Coordination, contact the Wisconsin Counties Association at 608-663-7188.