Survey Findings Indicate Positive Response By Both Cities And Private Sector For Financial Services Alliance
By Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland and Roger E. Dahl
October 7, 2002
Conference Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran, in a recent letter to Conference leadership, stated, "local governments have made tremendous progress in improving their financial operations in recent years. Yet still many wonder how to get the best advice at the most competitive rate to execute an effective financial management strategy. With corporate America under attack for recent well-publicized lapses in financial judgment the public will be demanding a higher level of accountability and performance from both public and private organizations. It was with this in mind that the Conference undertook a survey of approximately 160 cities and 50 financial service providers to determine the interest and need to create a financial services alliance."
The Conference commissioned the services of Governmentum Solutions to insure accurate analysis of the data collected. University of Maryland Professor and Governmentum founder G. Edward DeSeve presented the findings at the recent Conference Fall Leadership meeting in Santa Barbara. Among the positions DeSeve held in the past are finance director for the City of Philadelphia, Deputy Director for Management of OMB, and national industry director for the federal service at KPMG. DeSeve reported that the idea of a financial alliance was supported by both cities and providers.
Among the findings of the survey:
Cities reported:
A clear need for outside services
A need to enhance the current levels of internal capacity with contractual support
A desires to streamline the provider selection process
They often don-t know the best way to obtain the services they need
Providers stated:
They-re interested in doing city business
A desire to obtain qualified leads
They-re willing to defray program costs
Have a strong interest in the overall concept
The surveys focused on the following financial service areas:
Revenue Maximization/ Expenditure Reduction
Economic Forecasting/ Revenue Estimation
Privatization Studies/ Competitive Sourcing
Financial Information Systems
Asset Management
Multi-Year Financial Planning/Budgeting
Grants Management
Cash Management
Debt Management
Pension Fund Management
Accounting Services (excluding payroll)
Payroll Services
Auditing
Tax Administration
Of the areas surveyed, the following were viewed by the responding cities as the most troublesome.
Revenue Maximization/Expenditure Reduction - 64.80%
Privatization Studies/Competitive Sourcing -48.10%
Asset management - 35.20%
Grants Management - 22.20%
Cash Management - 20.40%
Debt Management -16.70%
Pension Fund Management 11.10%
Following the survey results and discussion with members of leadership, the Conference has decided to pursue the viability of a financial alliance. Conference staff will be contacting mayors and their finance officers, as well as providers, for their valuable input and assistance in aiding in the design of what is believed will be a best practice for cities.
If your office has not completed the survey and you need additional information, contact Roger Dahl at 202-861-6731 or Kathryn Kretschmer-Weyland at 301-460-5251.
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