Click here to view a larger version.) / " title="MUNICIPAL EXPENDITURES in Rhode Island increased 20 percent from 2004 to 2009 before falling this year. (Click here to view a larger version.) /"/>PROVIDENCE – Cities and towns in Rhode Island should share public-safety dispatch systems and information technology, and work together on tax collections, according to a study released Monday by a state commission.
The 11-member Senate Municipal Shared Services Study Commission began meeting last November to study potential ways the state’s 39 cities and towns could collaborate to save money and become more efficient. The commission was chaired by Sen. Louis P. DiPalma, D-Middletown.
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“There’s little doubt that there are savings to be had if communities are willing to team up instead of going it alone on almost every service they provide and task that they perform,” DiPalma said in a statement. “There’s a lot of duplication of effort in the state.”
Rhode Island’s 1.1 million residents are served by 39 municipal governments, 36 school districts, 38 police departments and 80 different fire jurisdictions, according to the study.
Excluding education, the state’s cities and towns have 9,306.1 full-time equivalent employees. Total annual spending by municipalities increased 20 percent from fiscal 2004 to 2009, the study found.
The commission’s other recommendations included a nonbinding ballot referendum that would ask voters to express their support or opposition to further consolidation of municipal services, as well as the creation of a General Assembly committee that would oversee shared services and work to eliminate roadblocks to consolidation.
