Thinking Beyond Municipal Boundaries - Cost Reduction Opportunities

CGR provided an array of examples of how to use economies of scale to reduce costs in the Buffalo region. Using information from the New York State's Comptroller's office, CGR found that the greater community could reduce annual costs by $8.2 million to $9.9 million by acting as an integrated entity throughout the regional urban core to provide functions that go beyond city boundaries. CGR focused on three distinct categories of government services (refuse collection, street lighting and information technology) where the savings could be significant through the use of coordination. CGR also provided concrete steps that officials should take to achieve savings such as creating a single plan to address regional issues and combining the region's purchasing power to obtain pricing leverage. Finally, CGR recommended that a regional Urban Services District be created in order to achieve further efficiency.

Report Date: Feb 2004
Author(s): Charles Zettek
Subject(s): Financial/Budgetary Analysis , Government Reorganization/Dissolution , Shared Services/Consolidation
Location: Erie, New York

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