Welcome to the Center for Local Government

www.c4lg.org

Government Cooperation and Efficiency Project (GCEP)

GCEP Overview

The Government Cooperation and Efficiency Project (GCEP) was started in 2007 as a means to enhance / grow various local government collaboration efforts in Hamilton County. GCEP began as a joint effort between the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County to share services. It evolved over time to include other local governments in the region. The Center for Local Government became involved in the process in 2007. Funding is provided by the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and the Cincinnati Business Committee.

The first phase of the project focused on twelve areas of operational collaboration between local governments. Information on the projects that developed out of the first phase of GCEP can be found below under the “Phase 1” link.

Phase 2 of GCEP focuses on more complex collaborative efforts. These include feasibility studies for heavy equipment sharing and maintenance, collaborative code enforcement, E911 consolidation, and tax administration collaboration. The studies for equipment sharing and code enforcement were funded by grants from the State of Ohio. More information on phase 2 projects can be found below.

Phase 1

Phase 2

Heavy Equipment Sharing / Maintenance: This program will enable local governments to rent equipment from the City of Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and each other. An advisory board will be created made up of representatives from all jurisdictions which have chosen to offer and share equipment through this program. Cincinnati, Hamilton County, or CLG will serve as a database manager to track equipment usage and availability. This program should be operational in mid 2010. For more information contact T.J. White with CLG at 513-741-7999 or twhite@C4LG.org or Dustin Anderson with Management Partners at 513-861-5400 or danderson@managementpartners.com.

Code Enforcement Consolidation Study: This feasibility study focuses on the degree to which consolidation or collaboration can bring uniformity to the substance and process of code enforcement. Building, property maintenance, and zoning codes are included in the study. The results of this feasibility study will be made available toward the end of 2009 or in early 2010. For more information contact T.J. White with CLG at 513-741-7999 or twhite@C4LG.org or Todd Kinskey with Hamilton County at 513-946-4454 or todd.kinskey@hamilton-co.org.

Tax Administration Collaboration: This study assesses the feasibility of encouraging local governments to contract with the Regional Income Tax Agency (RITA) or the City of Cincinnati tax department for income tax collection. The advantage of this type of arrangement is a lower cost of administration (Cincinnati’s cost of administration is roughly 1%, RITA 1.5%-4%). Furthermore, this type of arrangement will enable participating governments to have access to IRS tax return data, which will assist in assuring a lower tax delinquency rate from citizens. For more information contact T.J. White with CLG at 513-741-7999 or twhite@C4LG.org or Dustin Anderson with Management Partners at 513-861-5400 or danderson@managementpartners.com.