UPDATE: The Lower Fox River Partnering Initiative Shared Services Study was accepted by the Village of Oswego, Village of Montgomery, and United City of Yorkville through a joint resolution in August 2015.
Efficient governance is a critical component of GO TO 2040, but achieving this goal requires innovation. Encouraging strategic coordination among municipal governments can ensure the continued delivery of high-quality local services to the region's residents. With assistance from CMAP's Local Technical Assistance (LTA) program, the Villages of Oswego and Montgomery and the United City of Yorkville are conducting a study to analyze opportunities for service delivery that encourages coordination and joint provision of municipal service.
These three Fox River communities share many features and have similar demographic, land use, and economic development patterns, making them well-suited for service sharing. For instance, a prior market analysis of Oswego identified the communities as a distinct trade area for retail needs and recommended that the municipalities work together to coordinate economic development efforts and to promote broader cooperation. As a result, Oswego, Montgomery, and Yorkville are currently exploring ways to coordinate service delivery to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of municipal operations. This study's objectives are twofold: (1) to provide the communities with concrete strategies for collaboration across a range of services and (2) to develop recommendations for a process to guide the municipalities' ongoing collaboration. Together, these goals will equip the communities to take immediate actions to share services, as well as to build institutional capacity for collaboration in the long-run.
The planning process, which occurred over the course of a year from 2014-2015, aimed to increase the efficiency of municipal service delivery, identify a process for sharing services, recommend concrete shared services projects to implement, and share lessons learned from other efforts around the region. The study did not consider consolidation or layoffs of any kind, and is not intended to reduce the quality of municipal services.
The ultimate result of this process was the creation of the Lower Fox River Partnering Initiative, which provides a framework for long-term collaboration for shared service and joint planning.
The final Lower Fox River Partnering Initiative Shared Services Study summarizes the process and outcomes of this LTA project, provides lessons learned from other communities, and includes a variety of worksheets and resources that can be used in future shared service efforts.
