June 27, 2005

Despite the existence of legislation fashioned in Congress a decade ago by former Senator Dirk Kempthorne (ID), now governor of Idaho, and chair of the National Governor's Association, to limit the federal mandates imposed on the nation's state and local governments, the unreimbursed costs of satisfying these mandates continue to consume large portions of city revenues, according to a preliminary report on current mandate costs released June 13 in Chicago during The U.S. Conference of Mayors' 73rd annual meeting.

The Conference's report, Impact of Unfunded Federal Mandates and Cost Shifts on U.S. Cities, summarizes costs incurred for nine unfunded federal mandates and other cost shifts to 59 cities in the most recent fiscal year for which cost data could be provided. It covers mandates and cost shifts created by the Americans with Disabilities Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, Historic Preservation, Lead Paint Abatement, and preemptions of local authority in Cable Modem Service and Satellite Communications.

Across the mandates examined, compliance with the Clean Water Act was found to be the costliest to cities.

• Combined Sewer Overflow costs averaged $1.49 million in annual recurring costs to the cities reporting them, or an average per capita cost of $10.76. One-time, non-recurring costs averaged $21.17 million, or an average per capita cost of $90.33.
• Sanitary Sewer Overflow costs averaged $1.75 million in annual costs, or an average per capita cost of just over $32. One-time costs averaged $9.24 million, or an average of $22.13 per capita.
• Other Clean Water Act costs averaged $7.86 million in annual costs, or an average per capita cost of $40.51. One-time costs averaged $29.24 million, or an average of $113.79 per capita.

The first national study of the impact of unfunded federal mandates on cities was published by the Conference of Mayors in 1993. It, too, found that Clean Water Act mandates were far costlier than any others, accounting for 56 percent of the total costs reported for the 10 federal mandates in that study. Today's preliminary report shows that the Act, including costs for Combined Sewer Overflow, Sanitary Sewer Overflow, and other clean water mandates, accounts for 66 percent of the total costs reported for nine mandates.

The next largest comparable mandate, the Safe Drinking Water Act, accounted for nearly nine percent of the total in 1993 — the third largest cost in that study. In the new study it represents 27 percent of the total — again, the third largest cost. Together, the water-related mandates accounted for well over nine of every 10 unfunded mandate dollars reported.

The Conference's report was produced at the recommendation of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who has launched an effort in his city to monitor and report on the costs incurred in complying with a wide range of unfunded and underfunded federal mandates, unreasonable grant requirements, and federal preemptions of local authority. Daley has said that while the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA) has made it harder for Congress to impose the costs of new federal programs on state and local governments, "It is time to cast the net wider. Congress has found more subtle ways to force unfunded mandates onto the cities and states." The information collected by the Conference for its report mirrors that currently being collected in Chicago.

The Conference's report includes average per capita costs for all mandates, an effort to better understand the impact of the mandate costs in 59 cities ranging in size from Chicago (population 2.9 million) to East Cleveland (population 27,217). In releasing the preliminary report in a morning plenary session devoted to the mandates issue, Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic, the outgoing President of the Conference of Mayors, explained that, on a recurring annual basis, the average per capita costs of the sewer overflow and other clean water mandates, plus the safe drinking water mandates, produced an average per capita cost of more than $109 for the cities reporting. "To put this in perspective," Plusquellic told the mayors, "for these cities, these mandates alone amount to more than 43 percent of what we spend in this nation, per capita, for all of our police protection."

One-time, non-recurring costs for the water-related mandates were also significantly higher than for any other mandate examined. These costs generally involve capital spending on infrastructure needed to comply with mandates. Totaling the capital project costs submitted by several of the cities for sewer overflow, other clean water, and safe drinking water mandates produced an average per capita cost of more than $305.

Plusquellic stressed that mayors are not attempting to eliminate all of the services that have been mandated by the federal government. "Our goals are to obtain the federal funding needed to comply with the federal laws and regulations that have been mandated, and to be given the flexibility to deliver the mandated services in ways that we know are most efficient and effective," he said.

In his remarks in the plenary session on mandates, Daley said the mandates studies are intended "to educate not only the mayors, but to educate the public, about the cost of government. That's what this is all about." "Mandates are costly," he said. "They force us to replace our own goals as mayors with federal priorities. They tie our hands by forcing us to deal with problems in ways set by Washington (DC) rather than the way we feel is best to meet our own local needs."

The Conference's report is being provided to the members of the Senate and House who are conducting hearings on the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. "I am pleased that we have friends in Congress like Senators George Voinovich (OH) and Lamar Alexander (TN), and Representatives Mike Turner (OH) and Tom Davis (VA) who are looking at ways to strengthen our unfunded mandates protections," said Plusquellic.

The mayors' session on mandates was also addressed by Kempthorne who, as a member of the Senate in 1995, led the successful effort to enact the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act. Prior to his Senate service, Kempthorne was the mayor of Boise and an active member of the Conference of Mayors.