Rethinking Local Services: Examining Alternative Delivery Approaches

摘要

This report presents information on the policy, management, and implementation issues that must be discussed by local officials considering the use of alternative service delivery approaches. The introductory section portrays a process intended to help readers determine if any of the discussed alternatives to direct local government delivery of services will be useful in their own communities. The next major section focuses on various alternative service delivery approaches: purchase of service contracting, franchise agreements, subsidy arrangements, vouchers, volunteers, self-help, and regulatory and tax incentives. The discussion of each alternative includes a description of the approach, data on the number of local governments using the approach, basic steps for implementation, criteria for evaluation, and factors to consider when implementing the approach. The second major section covers five local government service categories: public works and transportation, public safety, health and human services, parks and recreation, and support functions. For each service area, there is a discussion of the benefits of the alternative approaches, data to help readers compare service delivery approaches to communities similar to their own, and special issues that should be considered when using the alternative service delivery approaches. The concluding section contains 32 case studies of local governments that are using alternative service delivery approaches. Numerous tables and about 50 annotated references are listed.