Article C - Collaborative Service Delivery: What every local government manager
should know by Cheryl Hilvert and David Swindell.
This article addressed the myriad problems and new possibilities confronting
municipal governments today. The main takeaway of this piece is the importance of
collaboration between government agencies, private businesses, and charitable groups.
Many public services are available to citizens from various levels of government, and some
are even provided at no expense. Therefore, municipal governments should partner with
other organizations to reduce costs and exchange services and resources. This case's IGR
execution resulted from a meeting of interested parties responsible for assessing available
funds and resources. These individuals also recognized the advantages and drawbacks and
the importance of asset specialization in evaluating the possibility of cooperation in this
process. (Hilver and Swindel, 2013). Helping the organizations concerned handle and
surmount problems through collaboration and optimum use of resources is the result of
finding these zones.
The distinction between public-private and public-public partnerships is the
article's most useful nugget of information. It is essential to know what duties public and
private groups and companies have as partnerships develop and parties are recognized.
Concern over who has the final say is a common obstacle to public-private partnerships.
When a municipality and a private energy business join forces to provide a public service,
some residents worry that city officials will no longer have a say in the utility's operations,
pricing, and potential growth. Politicians often worry a lot about things like spending limits
and contract monitoring. (Hilver and Swindel, 2013). Incorporating the private sector can
have benefits and drawbacks when facing problems or extending services. This is an
essential lesson, given our propensity to view IGR as the connection of state organizations.
Article A - Recent Developments in the Study of Interjurisdictional Agreements: An
overview and assessment by Simon A Andrew.
/The Article details how regional deals on municipal borders and public services can
be used to advance IGR efforts. "It is usually a third party that forms these progressive
government agreements (IJA), though they can be made on a consensual or forced basis"
(Simon, 2009). During times of fiscal strain, towns would use these pacts to reduce the
expense of enforcing and administering a significant territory in any way they could. For
instance, if a municipality and county collaborated on planning and zoning, the
municipality may agree with the county to extend the application of municipal regulations
into the county's unincorporated areas. (ETJ). These steps were made to help with
acquisition attempts and gain a better grasp on who has authority. However, these contracts
were required to specify a regulatory period, jurisdictional boundaries, and ruling
authority. This piece also discusses the use of public service agreements as a means of
enacting IGR policies. "Most state statutes that permit the formation of IJAs for a given
service or activity do so within the context of formal IJAs" (Simon, 2009). To this end, the
government and the developer or service provider may enter into a deal for which the
developer or service provider will be paid.
/To me, the most important things to learn from this piece are:
the processes involved in establishing such agreements,
the official requirements for what such an agreement must encompass and handle,
and
the widespread impact of such initiatives.
The article explains how this deal can be a valuable resource for municipal administration.
Over decades, this was tracked nationally, and its legacy lives on in local areas. In order to
be effective, these contracts need to provide specifics about the duration of the agreement,
the party in charge, and the schedule for its execution. These considerations are crucial
when drafting a government agreement to ensure that all parties are on the same page
regarding the scope of their respective legal duties and authority. All new IJAs are known as
IGBAs or international border agreements. That is very much like the ETJ we talked about
before. "Local governments use these deals to settle contentious issues between them, such
as expansion and land-use planning" (Simon, 2009). As a means of coordinating efforts for
the public good, municipal administrations should seriously consider these pacts.
References
Hilver, C., & Swindel, D. (2013). Collaborative Service Delivery: What Every Local
Government Manager Should Know. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0160323X13513908
Simon, A. (2009). Recent Developments in the Study of Interjurisdictional Agreements: An
Overview and Assessment. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www-jstor-
org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/stable/pdf/25593640.pdf?
refreqid=excelsior:d64840b59ef2110a4da2d6f98223b426
