Thursday, March 31, 2005
Like tax reform, city/county mergers are popular to talk about, but difficult to pull off. The talk is especially popular in the Midwest. Read more.
In places like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo interest is driven by a public cost structure that is out of line with the underlying economy: too many governmental units sucking up too much overhead.
Think of it this way. We need a certain amount of "social overhead" to run our communities. That's what our tax dollars provide. But when the social overhead gets out of line with the economy's underlying ability to generate wealth, relative tax rates rise.
Business leadership tends to focus narrowly on tax rates, rather than thinking more comprehensively about the cost structures that drive these rates.
Here's what's happening with the effort to combine Rutherford County and the city of Murfreesboro in Tennessee. Read more.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
City-county merger in Murfreesboro
