In my almost eight years of working for the Municipal League there are certain things I’ve been tagged with. One of them is sharing news clips with my colleagues every Sunday morning.  Although this practice has been more inconsistent lately, it stems from having those few hours on Sunday morning to myself, while the rest of the family attends church.  Well its Sunday morning, they’re again at church and in a variation on that theme I’m writing a blog…a different kind of sharing but sharing nonetheless. 

It has been another busy week of traveling around the state to see members and give presentations on what will help to bring prosperity to Michigan communities. It has been closed by a great trip on family weekend at my youngest daughter’s college, Ball State University, in Muncie, Indiana. 

Muncie is not unlike any other mid-sized Midwestern city or Michigan city for that matter, seeking to redefine itself in the post-industrial economy.  This morning, I seem to have found “the” college café (The Cup) just off the south side of campus where there is a good deal of student housing. A mix of students and others are coming in to get their Sunday morning refreshments and begin the recovery from a Saturday night of activity. 

Ball State University (yes its named after the Ball brothers, more famous for their canning jars than anything else) is beginning to work more and more with the surrounding neighborhoods and city at large on redevelopment.  This is not unlike the “town-gown” relationship building we are seeing across the country. And while some have recently panned the economic growth from such relationships, I would remind readers of the “its not any one thing” philosophy of economic growth.  Certainly, those communities that contain a community college or 4 year university within their borders would be remiss to not establish a “town-gown” relationship as part of a broader effort on creating long-term sustainable economic growth and prosperity. 

As for how I started this past week, well that was in Newaygo.  Located north of Grand Rapids, this community of just under 2,000 is situated in a county where nearly half of the land is contained within a national forest.  And, like any other small town (or any town for that matter), Newaygo is looking to redefine itself.  Toward that end, they have put together a very impressive business  incubator for entrepreneurs right on the main street in downtown. Its called “The Stream”, an appropriate name given Newaygo’s location on the Muskegon River.  As for the “they”, it includes not just local officials, but other community leaders from non-profits, the private sector and community foundation. Over the last couple of months I’ve had the opportunity to get to know two of them, Sandi Williams, Director of the Center for Nonprofit Housing in Fremont and Paul Wishka with TrueNorth Community Services.  

Their unbridled enthusiasm for the work they’re doing, on the ground in Newaygo and communities across the county is infectious.  One step at a time, one project at a time, they are building a bridge as they walk on it, a journey filled with risks for sure, but one they know they need to take if they are to create a future of sustainable prosperity for themselves and their community. It’s the same journey being taken by countless others in communities across our state. All of it causes me to be inspired, and makes me proud to be working for an organization and with people who are helping to move Michigan forward.

So its Sunday of Labor Day weekend, a gorgeous Sunday mind you and yet I’m inside writing a blog.  Well, when the youngest offspring is home from college for the first time and shopping is on her list, its mom that goes and not dad. Typical Mars and Venus stuff. So instead, I decide to relax and read. Not anything heavy like a novel but something related to work. I can’t help it.  And of course reading such material gets me to thinking… a dangerous state for me, just ask my family or co-workers.                                         

That’s the setup. What I was reading was Governing magazine. It’s a great magazine for those involved or interested in state and local governments. And a small article in the August issue (ok, I’m a bit behind) discussed the controversy over “Agenda 21”.  What is Agenda 21 and why is it controversial? A recent poll shows that’s what 85% of Americans would like to know that as well. 

Agenda 21 is the name given to a non-binding resolution adopted by the United Nations in 1992 that encourages sustainable growth through development in dense areas while encouraging conservation of open land.  Key phrase here… NON-BINDING. Nonetheless, those who believe there are plotters among us seeking to create a one-world government through the United Nations have drawn their focus on the measure, to the point where the national Republican Party platform has strong language against Agenda 21.( “We strongly reject the U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty, and we oppose any form of U.N. Global Tax,”)

Now, from where I sit a non-binding resolution is just that, non-binding, meaning you don’t have to do anything to follow it. On the other hand in an era of scarcer and scarcer financial resources and a growing federal deficit, shouldn’t we have a honest discussion about where those resources are to be placed and how?  Of course we should, the message of having to make tough decisions was a constant at the recent Republican national convention. And yet, when it happens and government seems to do the right thing, its still wrong.

Case in point, the new $14 billion levee system that seems to have worked and saved New Orleans form major flooding during Hurricane Issac.  But, water has a tendency to create its own path and when it was essentially blocked from New Orleans, it found its way to smaller communities who were not hit as hard from Katrina. That has led to an outcry and proclamations from elected officials to seek a full investigation and ensure that it doesn’t happen again. 

You know the old saying about not being able to have it both ways.  Well, if there is an expectation that, given scare financial resources, we want government to act like a business and get the biggest bang for the buck, then there will be winners and there will be losers. This too is part of the tough discussion.  The levee system is a classic case in point. Spend money and improve infrastructure where it will make the most difference.  

That seems to me be the real the point of Agenda 21… develop plans, strategies and programs that will yield the most efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars, especially when it comes to land use planning and infrastructure.  Actually seems quite similar to the Michigan Municipal League’s “Center for 21^st Century  Communities” initiative. Quite frankly one would think such a school of thought would be supported by all, but especially by conservatives. 

Hurricane Issac provides a great opportunity for the leaders in both parties to have that “tough discussion” with Americans in an honest manner, even in an election year, and not in 30-second sound bites. It’s crunch time folks, pay close attention.

Once upon a time in a land far, far, away….Oh wait wrong fairly tale.  What am I talking about? The fact that not too long ago the provision ofr services in Michigan used to be a shared responsibility between state government and local government.  But, over the past decade or more what we have seen is a devolving of those responsibilities to primarily locals as the state has used nearly $5 billion meant for locals to fill its own budget hole.  As a result we’ve seen locals layoff police and fire personnel, close parks and libraries, and put off much need upgrades to important infrastructure such as local streets and sewers. At the same time, getting state government (governors and legislators) to come together on the need for additional revenues has been virtually impossible.  Take additional revenues to help fix our roads and bridges and support transit alternatives.  Even with federal dollars at stake, the legislature can’t seem to find a way to agree to something…anything that would bring such areas into the 21st century.

And yet, at the local level, residents are passing millage after millage to support any number of services.  As a matter of fact at the August election, 90% of all local millages were approved.  This included 100% of all public transit millage requests!   The story has been the same the past couple of years. In the August 2010 election, 86% of all millages were approved and in May of 2011 more than 80% were adopted.

So what’s the deal in the halls of Lansing or Washington?   Clearly, local voters are more than willing to support additional revenues for items when the case is made for specific services that add to our quality of life.  Lets just be sure that the next time we hear a state legislator say the public is against raising taxes to remind them of the reality.

As you ponder how to balance your community’s finances and make tough choices about what you can afford, have you stopped and asked if you are exacerbating an already tough situation?  If your rates and charges for your utility systems are not set properly you just may be doing just that.

When elected officials sit down to plan out their year, it is highly unlikely that their most anticipated activity is adjusting water and sewer charges.  Adjusting utility rates is certainly not the most desirable endeavor an elected body can engage in, but it is one of the most important.  If your community doesn’t perform an annual review and adjustment of your water and sewer rates that fully captures the costs of the system, you are negatively impacting the rest of the community’s operations.  At this point you are probably asking: why?  The answer is really quite simple.  If the rates and charges your community charges don’t fully cover the costs of the service, where do you suppose the revenue comes from to make up the difference?

There is also a real equity problem.  A taxpayer’s SEV has nothing to do with the amount of water utilized.  Residents and businesses alike that are high users of water benefit immensely from inadequately set water and sewer rates.  Conversely, low users carry an unfair burden.  Would you offer to pay your neighbors electric bill when he has 4 kids, 8 TV’s, and lights on 24/7 when you live alone and manage your electric usage?  Of course not, but that is effectively what happens when rates are improperly set.

No one wants to raise utility rates, but if they don’t capture all your costs you are adding to the already difficult circumstance of managing your community’s finances and delivering services.  Make sure everyone pays their fair share.  No more,but certainly no less.