Cost of Government in Region

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A detailed examination of government expenditures and revenues throughout Northeast Ohio is now available to the public. You can learn more about he research and access its reports and online database here.

Robert Jaquay, vice president of the Fund for Our Economic Future, said, “Our region is engaged in an intense economic global competition, and we must be smart about how we invest our public dollars. An essential first step is increasing our ability to measure government expenditures. We expect that elected officials and the public will use this information to inform ongoing and new efforts to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of government in Northeast Ohio.”

The research does not prescribe how government should be changed in Northeast Ohio, but it will be used by a number of efforts under way to increase government collaboration and efficiency -- one of the the four action areas of Advance Northeast Ohio.

For example, in Stark County, several chambers of commerce and economic development organizations have banded together to form the 21st Century Government Initiative to examine how to improve government throughout that county. The initiative will use the research to help it identify its focus areas for change.

Take the time to go through the research and tell us what you think it tells you about how governments need to change to increase the competitiveness of Northeast Ohio.

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Comments

# Submitted by cthompson on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 06:36.

Here are some links to the media's coverage of the Cost of Government Research:

Youngstown Vindicator: Study: Valley government costs soar
Youngstown Vindicator: County governments offer ways to reorganize and save
Youngstown Vindicator: Valley public sector spending requires large dose of reality
Canton Repository: Database breaks down what Stark County pays for each of us
Canton Repository: Governments need to turn in numbers
Akron Beacon Journal: Summit in top 5 in public spending
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Spending study shows need for reform, government critics say
Cleveland Plain Dealer: $3,750 per person and rising fast
Cleveland Plain Dealer: About the study on government spending
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County court expenditures grew 89 percent in 1992-02, study finds
Cleveland Plain Dealer: In Northeast Ohio, schools account for 40 percent of government spending
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Data revealing Northeast Ohio government's cost should drive regionalism
ideastream: Big variations found in how much local governments spend
ideastream: Sound of Ideas Explores the Cost of Government in Northeast Ohio
Crain's Cleveland Business: Study: Region’s government too costly
Crain's Cleveland Business: Get Movin'
Akron Beacon Journal: Be bold, Northeast Ohio
WKYC: Does Northeast Ohio spend too much money on government?
Weapons of Mass Discussion: In Northeast Ohio, Local Governments Represent 10% of Local Economy
Dayton Daily News: Our View: Other regions show how to save money 







		

		

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			Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 07/15/2008 - 15:30.		

		
Chris, great article on the cost of government. You stayed in Cleveland to make change and try to assist with building up this city and for that I applaud you. As a government employee of 14 years, and a resident of Cleveland all my life---I have witnessed a few "impropers" with non-profits, city hall officials and the police officers, myself---and the reason for the wide disparity in spending may be due to the echelons who are in power and are hording all the money, saying they spent this or that on a program, when all they did was have a speaker, serve coffee and donuts and pocketed the rest of their "grant money" to keep for themselves. That's why they're not reporting the information. They stay here in C-town to continue getting rich because the checks and balances that are needed, aren't in place and they know it. That's why they are in cohoots with each other. Unlike you who actually believes in change---most will get rich and leave the area within 10 years. I believe that is why....."There is a wide disparity in spending on a per capita basis among the counties in Northeast Ohio....."---and that is why it is "challenging for the public to monitor and evaluate the performance of local governments in Northeast Ohio...."--they don't want to be monitored!! That's my opinion!


Stay dedicated and people-friendly Chris! We need more professionals like yourself!


Peace (and power to the people!-)

		

	










		

		

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			Submitted by cthompson on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 08:18.		

		
Advance Northeast Ohio reader Libby Hill sent me this comment via email and gave me permission to post it here. 




I have felt for a long time that our  local government costs were excessive.  As a business owner, we are always  looking to improve economies of scale and trim excess, but our government at  every level just increases taxes rather than living within their means.  It also  amazes me how territorial and entitled townships and villages can be about their  meager services.  It is apparent that many trustees and administrators want to  hold onto their fiefdoms rather than truly serve the constituents.  I live in  the Painesville – Fairport Harbor - Concord area  that has a smaller population than Mentor, but has three school systems.  Imagine  the savings for taxpayers if they were merged into one without even closing a  single school, just streamlining administration!  


As a business owner if I operated  the way our governments do, I would be out of business in no time.  The burden  of big government starts at the grassroots level and that’s where the change  needs to be initiated.  Good business practices and models need to be applied to  all government entities to insure our future as a free, democratic  society.




  What opportunities do you see in your community to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of government?

		

	











		

		

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			Submitted by cthompson on Wed, 07/16/2008 - 11:46.		

		
Advance Northeast Ohio reader Lawerence Cassidy sent me this comment via email and gave me permission to post it here:


I've spent 20 of my 31 years as a Recruiter, Coach,  working closely with corporations, manufacturing firms on assessing their manpower, aiding them to find people to implement practices like LEAN,  before the word, like Team Concept, Strategic Planning, became trendy. Today,  in many case, (especially in  government), those existing processes/practices are nothing more than buzz words.  

Manufacturers have had no alternative, but to shrink their overhead - including incompetent employees, punching in from 9 to 5, and spending 6 of those hours planning on what they'll be doing with their leisure time once they punch out.


Government agencies, (3 I've been asked to apply for executive positions for), don't have shareholders breathing down their backs, and/or selling of shares. Once officials are elected, it's much more difficult to replace them after numerous errors, exceeding budgets, scandals, etc. Look how many people in Cuyahoga County, alone, have jobs they're are unqualified to hold, but received over better qualified people because of political connections. Right here is where the highest chunk of wasted budgets, can be saved. Average wages  for untrained personnel accompanied by $10-12K in benefits, etc. runs government roughly $57K, for those who do general labor functions. Let's look at the One-Stop-Shops, (One I was asked to submit a resume' to head up), hiring clerical people off of public assistance with few skill sets, when others had parents mortgage their homes for an education to qualify them to walk in and take full reign in instituting new launches in training, educating, and coaching clients to become job ready. Now the best of these people are losing their positions, and being replaced by incompetent people, who are literally clueless on the needs to drive, re-build our counties, and aid NE Ohio in taking the lead as the most recognized region in our Mid-Western states which many other parts of our nations, and even foreign countries wish they could match.


To be blunt, government needs to quit running like union halls did in the 60s and 70s, with that "Good Ol' Boy" mentality.

It's gone on with both political parties for too long. We're losing corporations who employees and some management won't adapt to a global economy. If government employees, elected officials can't see the writing on the wall, then maybe it's time to consider replacements across the board. Perhaps Congress People, County Commissions, Council Members and other political offices should all have term limitations. When people in any long term position get comfortable, they get lazy, and lose the ability to be creative and think out of the box.


Government, like manufacturing is too big. As our nation has witnessed, larger plants losing control, have shrunk in size, become, Lean, and invested in new technologies in order to become competitive. They also cleaned house and got rid of the dead wood which took up space, were counter productive, and created numerous internal morale issues, effecting productivity, quality, scrap, and net profits.


Government should have taken the lead in waste shrinkage to Lead By Example. Maybe government can review the hardships our industries experienced, and how many survived by learning to think out of the box, visioning where they wanted their company, employees, customers to be in 1, 3, 5, even 10 years from now.

The corporations with that vision are the ones I've aided in getting multi-talented people for in order to reach those goals.


I replaced their "Good Ol' Boys" taking up space. Perhaps government needs to take a serious look on how they can TRULY slash their budgets, or at least route the saving into more concrete programs needing to be addressed - instead of carrying 

unqualified friends on government payrolls.


		

	











		

		

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			Submitted by cthompson on Tue, 07/29/2008 - 10:45.		

		
Advance Northeast Ohio reader Chuck Miller did some quick math regarding the Cost of Government study and wrote the following:


I found your  information to be very interesting.


Some of it is encouraging and much that is  cause for concern.  I ran a calculation using the statistics included in the PD  article “In Northeast Ohio, schools account for 40 percent of government  spending” and I found that by dividing 393,188 students into $4.1 billion the  cost per student is $10,427.58.  If we have a class size of 25 students the  money spent is $260,689.54 for that class.  If we assume that the teacher’s  salary and benefits are $60,689.54, where does the rest of the money go?  Who  gets it?


But then in paragraph seven “Experts and local superintendents say…the  largest share of their money goes to teacher salaries and benefits….”  I wonder  what a teacher would say?  Consolidation of services in the region is critical  to reduce the cost of government and thereby reduce the tax burden to citizens  and businesses.


Every bureaucracy, whether public or private has a desire and a  “need” to grow.  In the private world we are constrained by our ability to grow  revenue.  Moreover when we do not constrain ourselves we go out of business and  get liquidated…a kind of a mechanism for culling for the inefficient use of  capital.  I know of no such of a mechanism in the public sector. Compliance  costs for laws rules and regulations imposed on businesses may be another burden  that adds to the region’s in ability to attract new businesses and nurture  existing businesses.

		

	











		

		

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			Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 08/04/2008 - 21:05.		

		
I hear a lot of complaints about taxes and government inefficiency, and few people seem to be talking about what is on the agenda for tomorrow.  No one is paying any attention to what our government is doing, but we complain about what we're getting from our government.


Our schools generally are funded and governed separate and apart from our city governments.  Perhaps that is not the correct approach, but it probably should be considered at the same time that we consider how to reform county government.


Many of our cities seem to be doing an adequate job of providing necessary services at a more or less reasonable cost.  There also is a lot more collaboration between cities in buying road materials, and combining some dispatching duties, etc.  We face several large problems in the near future, however:  including the continuing rapid increase in health insurance, and rapid increases in asphalt and concrete costs for road maintenance and repairs.


How much of the Cleveland teacher's salary and benefits go to health insurance?  Same for our police, fire, sanitation, and other city workers and facilities.  At my company, our insurance premiums have gone up nearly 20% for each of the past three years.  Neither my taxes nor my pay raises have kept pace.  From my involvement in my community, I know that our city has seen the same insurance increases with even smaller increases in tax revenue.  The increasing costs of health insurance are hurting us all, even if I can still afford my insurance.   


Additionally, the costs of oil and related products (asphalt, concrete) have been increasing exponentially, doubling in about the past three years.  Doubling in three years!  Considering our Cleveland winters, we may soon be returning to gravel side streets.  


These two factors alone have dramatically increased our cities' expenses without a comparable increase in taxes to offset them. In view of all the foreclosures and layoffs, what will happen to tax revenue in the foreseeable future? 


What do we do?  Privatize our roadway maintenance?  Are you willing to cut back on your police or fire departments?  Should we pay our teachers less and increase class sizes, educate our future citizens with teachers drawn from the bottom half of the bottom tier of colleges and universities?


My health insurance cost is much higher at my small company than it is for my buddy at Ford.  Why can't we buy our insurance through the County, or the State?  Let the states compete for better rates?


So what sort of county government should we create?

If we consolidate all of the cities in the county into a single county-wide government, who do I complain to when my street doesn't get paved?  Or when my garbage isn't picked up?  Hopefully we preserve a reasonable number of representatives per population so that our representatives can give us citizens the time and attention that we deserve.  Is the county large enough for it's own city manager and a legislature with a "house" and a "senate"?


Democracy requires participation. We all need to be active in attending city meetings, reading meeting minutes, and writing and calling our representatives at all levels of government to let them know when we either agree or disagree with their tax/spend votes. The school board's financial records are publicly available, let's dig in and find out where the dollars are going. We the people need to ask the hard financial questions, politely but persistently asking "do we really need this?"  And as ideas are floated for the new county government, we all need to speak up.