Media
Advisory
For Immediate Release Contact: Lee Umphrey, 287-2531
January 27,
2005 Laurie Lachance, President, MDF, 622-6345
41 Grant Applications for Regional
Service Delivery Submitted
AUGUSTA - Governor John Baldacci, together with the Maine Development
Foundation, announced today that the state received proposals requesting
funding of more than $3 million to consolidate local services.
Almost 100 municipalities
have joined together with school districts, special purpose districts,
counties, regional councils of government, and other quasi-governmental
entities to consider ways to deliver local services more efficiently and to
reduce property taxes.
“Maine people can no longer afford business
as usual. We need to make fundamental changes in the way we deliver government
services,” said Governor Baldacci.
“A key to lowering property
taxes is to deliver services more efficiently,” said Governor Baldacci.
“Individually, municipalities are not wasteful, but 495 separate units of government,
each deciding to build a new school or new public safety building, a few miles
apart, or to have single-town dispatch or assessment services does not make
sense. Working together, there are more opportunities to avoid duplication and
take advantage of economies of scale,” he said.
Grant proposals include both
study and implementation projects involving everything from regional dispatch
centers, joint fire services, regional purchasing collaborations, shared
assessing services, regional transfer and recycling facilities, compatible
databases for accounting, and consolidation of water and wastewater treatment
plant facilities, among others.
“We are delighted with the
number and range of proposals,” said Laurie Lachance, President of the Maine
Development Foundation. They demonstrate that not only are towns eager to work
together, but also that we can learn from one another.” Part of what the Maine
Development Foundation will do is assess what works.
“The grants will pilot new approaches and demonstrate techniques for achieving
property tax savings through collaboration,” she said.
The Maine Development
Foundation is administering the grant program on behalf of the state. It is the
oldest and one of the most successful statewide public-private partnerships in
the nation. Given the foundation’s work with downtowns and community
development issues, and its unique role to stimulate new ideas, develop
leaders, and provide common ground for solving problems and advancing issues,
it is well-positioned to help facilitate intergovernmental cooperation through
this grant program.
A panel of state and local
officials will review the grant applications against previously-established
criteria and determine those that are to be funded. Award announcements are
expected to be made on March
15, 2005.
Grants will be funded by the
state from the Fund for the Efficient Delivery of Local and Regional Services,
which was created to encourage and support cooperation amongst municipalities
and intergovernmental organizations. Projects funded will need to demonstrate
significant savings in the cost of delivering local and regional government
services and to serve as models from which other Maine communities may learn and follow.
For more information, visit http://www.mdf.org.
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