USM professor touts regionalization

BANGOR – Maine and Idaho have much more in common than potatoes.

Both states have relatively small populations of about 1.2 million. Both are served by single interstate systems running from north to south.

Maine and Idaho’s largest cities are in the southern part of the state and both have flagship universities near their geographic centers.

Despite their similarities, it costs less to provide services in Idaho than it does in Maine, according to Evan Richert, associate research professor at the Muskie School of Public Service at the University of Southern Maine and former State Planning Office director.

It isn’t that Maine’s government leaders are any less capable or frugal, Richert said. The difference lies in their very structures. And it’s how they differ that might offer some solutions for Maine’s economic malaise.

During a Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce Early Bird Breakfast Wednesday, Richert discussed ways in which Maine might benefit from Idaho’s regionalized approach.

Regionalization is shaping up to become one of this year’s top issues, at least in local government circles.

It’s a concept state officials have been pushing for years. Many communities, particularly rural and suburban ones, have resisted regionalization out of fear over potential loss of local control in decision-making and turf issues, among other reasons.

A soft economy, recent failed attempts at property tax reform and the threat of a tax cap referendum on the horizon, however, have given the issue greater urgency.

Gov. John Baldacci and his administration are proposing municipal service districts as a way to cut government spending.

Richert defined the districts as voluntary associations of municipalities that would include two or more school districts.

While each participating community would retain its own local councils or board of selectmen, a combined “umbrella” board would be the authority when dealing with budgets, property tax rates and planning and development services and other municipal duties.

“We believe that it is absolutely unnecessary and counterproductive to go beyond that,” he said.

If municipal service districts were established throughout Maine, Richert said, “I think doing that we would save upwards of $150 million a year in municipal costs without losing the essence of the Maine town.”

As things stand, the state has nearly 500 towns and cities, occupying patches of 10 to 70 square miles, and another 280 or so school districts.

The traditions of New England-style democracy and volunteerism, combined with the ongoing problem of sprawl, are some reasons for Maine’s proliferation of governmental entities.

To illustrate his point, Richert compared the two states’ ratio of full-time-equivalent local government employees.

For every 10,000 people, Maine has 410 full-time-equivalent local governmental employees, some serving administrative functions in town governments and school districts.

Because of its larger government jurisdictions, which provide various efficiencies and economies of scale, Idaho has 27 percent fewer administrative employees per 10,000 people.

Regionalization already is taking place at a grass-roots level. A number of Maine communities joined forces and set up joint purchasing and equipment-sharing programs, to name a few.While the state has no plans to force communities to regionalize, it does plan to encourage them to pool resources by offering financial incentives, Richert said.