Increasing Productivity and Reducing Costs Is a Vital Alternative to Raising Taxes or Cutting or Eliminating Services in Local Governments

government services;efficiency;productivity improvement;cost reduction;county clerk;Public Administration

McGraw, Richard G.Flint ;

University of Michigan

关键词: government services;    efficiency;    productivity improvement;    cost reduction;    county clerk;    Public Administration;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/143475/McGraw.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

In local government across the United States, public officials, both elected and appointed, a retelling the tax payers that there are two alternatives in solving the problem of increasing costs that confront government. These alternatives are to increase taxes or to cut back or eliminate services. This paper examines vital alternatives by which local government can reduce the costs of services and increase efficiency and effectiveness of these services through productivity improvements rather than by increasing taxes or reducing or eliminating services and programs. Productivity will be defined. Productivity improvement techniques will be outlined. Also, barriers that hinder the implementation of a productivity improvement program will be discussed. The paper then provides an overview of productivity improvement programs in five units of local government. Finally, a case study is presented outlining how productivity was increased and resulted in a substantial cost reduction in the County Clerk;;s Department of Genesee County, Michigan. The paper concludes by indicating that the research data collected and analyzed supports the hypothesis outlined in the paper. Furthermore, the 80;;s will be a period of cut-back management and program entrenchment in local government due to the scarcity of resources to finance these programs and services. Therefore, the public official will be forced to turn to improvements in productivity in order to resolve the above crisis.