Elections & Politics
Consolidating local government services doesn’t necessarily save money and could harm services
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By JACOB KANCLERZ
Capital News Service
LANSING – While the state pushes cooperation among Michigan’s local governments, some local officials say consolidating services doesn’t always save money while others say their communities have been consolidating for years. Gov. Rick Snyder encouraged municipalities to work together to solve fiscal problems earlier this year. Consolidating local government services, such as police and fire, have been a reoccurring theme of his local reform efforts. He replaced a portion of the local revenue sharing system for municipalities with incentives for eligible communities to present a plan to consolidate services with other local governments. Municipalities have until January to submit their plan to be considered for funding.