BasicGov / BLOG

2nd part of the series … to view previous blog post – Intro and Trend 1: A Drive to Sustainability

Ahead of the Curve: How Leading Local Governments are Benefitting from Sustainability and Other Trends

Local governments are called to perform a delicate balancing act on a daily basis. They must meet competing demands of developers to reduce red tape while citizens demand greater transparency, maintain and enhance amenities while managing the immense costs of infrastructure replacement, and grapple with intangible global changes like climate change and immediate local issues like poverty. As if this were not enough, local governments must also coordinate emergency preparedness for their communities and do battle in court when challenged – not an unusual occurrence.

Sustainable development – “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” – is a defining challenge of our time, but it is also a promising approach to solving complex, interrelated issues. Indeed, leading local governments, from Whistler to New York and Albuquerque, have embraced sustainable development as a way to live up to the strong visions of their citizens. These leaders manage trends proactively, identifying them and then “getting ahead of the curve” in order to ensure development is sustainable in the long term. To illustrate the benefits of sustainable development, this white paper summarizes six trends affecting local governments, and highlights leadership responses in a key area of local government activity: development review and approvals.

Trend 2: Mounting Fiscal Challenges for Local Governments

The maintenance of roads, sewer, water and utility infrastructure systems is essential to the functioning of our communities. Every community in North America is facing a dilemma of how to pay for the maintenance of their aging and crumbling infrastructure – most notably in our highways and bridges, which were largely built in the 50’s and 60’s. Municipal property taxes are expected to keep up the pace of paying for operations and maintenance, yet all municipalities are struggling to make this work. When declines in municipal tax revenues occur – such as with the sub-prime mortgage crisis – this problem exacerbates fiscal vulnerabilities, and deferring maintenance further compounds the problem.

Communities that are integrating their planning, engineering, building, operations and maintenance are able to find efficiencies. What is cheapest today vs. what is the best value in the “life-span” of a municipal investment? Leading communities are considering the full life-span of infrastructure, and working to extend existing resources by reducing waste and using more efficient technologies and processes.

Read “Ahead of the Curve” White Paper.

Part 3: Why Web-Based SaaS for Community Development processes (Permits, Code Enforcement, and Planning)? Why Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is a fit for community development processes such as planning, building permits and inspections, and code enforcement.

The community development department of a city, county or town has the key role of ensuring the community is livable, competitive and sustainable.  This department manages planning applications, zoning, building permits, inspections, code enforcement and related services.  Staff make recommendations to city managers, mayors and elected officials to ensure that all interests in the community are served.

The amount of work for the department staff can be overwhelming.  Most local governments use software to manage their workflow efficiently and give their citizens better service while avoiding the need for more staff.  Community development software comes in various forms: from highly customizable in-house systems, to simple desktop software, to web-based software. (see examples of local government innovators)

Web-based software, also known as Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud computing, is increasing being adopted by local governments. These advantages are often cited by community development departments that use SaaS software:

• Affordable monthly subscription per user and no capital cost. The subscription basis of SaaS allows managers to add or decrease users depending upon the workload.  If a new building development increases work-load and staff numbers, new subscriptions can be purchased for a fixed period.
• Less demand for in-house IT resources. The SaaS supplier provides the implementation, training and support as part of the monthly subscription and no additional servers are required.
• Information is easily shared across the departments and teams.  All users can check on the status from any department, schedule inspections or public hearing events within the SaaS system.
• SaaS software integrates with other systems such as GIS and financial.
• SaaS software can be accessed from the office or remotely in the field with a laptop computer and Internet connection. Building inspectors and code enforcement officers can print out permits or notices in the field.
• Improved reliability of data back-up and recovery.  SaaS information is stored and protected at multiple high security locations.
• Improved reporting capabilities which can be configured for local requirements.