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Partnering with Municipal Governments
Posted
5-9-07
County government serves its citizens in many
ways, but one aspect that sometimes goes unnoticed is the
interaction between the county and municipal governments. In a
county our size (more than 1,000 square miles) face-to-face
interaction doesn't constantly occur. But the relationships are
there, not in a top-down fashion, but one as partners in serving
our constituents.
It should be clear that county government
doesn't "govern over" municipalities. The Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania lays out our missions. In the case of counties,
what we do and how we operate are spelled out for the most part
by the County Code, a set of principles that tells us how to
conduct business. There are eight classes of counties, ranging
from Philadelphia (1st Class) on down to tiny ones like Fulton
County (8th Class). For municipal governments, a Borough Code,
City Code or Township Code, broken down by classifications,
spells out how business is to be conducted. In some instances,
counties and cities have opted for a Home Rule Charter, which
can differentiate some operational procedures, but the
overriding issue of taxation is not one that can be changed by a
Home Rule Charter.
One of the most fundamental services county
government provides for municipalities is the measurement of
assessed property values. The governing bodies set millage,
whether it is the county, a municipal government or a school
district. But the value of the property is determined by the
county Tax Assessment Office. That office is also responsible
for identifying and adding new properties on to the tax rolls.
Some other entities in county government that
have regular interaction with municipal governments are our
planning and community development offices and the redevelopment
authority. In most instances we serve as a "pass through" agency
for funding for community development projects, or demolition
projects, and in some instances we provide technical assistance.
When a crime is committed in a municipality, the
prosecution of the case is conducted by the District Attorney of
Westmoreland County on behalf of the Commonwealth. The cost of
that prosecution is born by the county as we fund the district
attorney's office, except for a partial reimbursement of the
DA's salary. County government pays for all the cost of the
common pleas courts, the magisterial district judges' offices
and staffs, the probation offices, and the prison. Common pleas
court judges and magisterial district judges are employees of
the Commonwealth.
About 20 years ago, the Commonwealth mandated
countywide 911, so we serve as the call taking and dispatching
entity for nearly all municipal police, fire departments and
ambulance services. As you can imagine, with more cars on the
road and more cellular phones in use, the cost of that operation
has grown tremendously over the years. We've invested heavily in
new technology to ensure communication improves, as often
minutes can be the difference between life and death.
The county also provides a variety of human
services that touch the citizens of every municipality. Those
services range from assistance for children to services for the
elderly. In some instances, we operate facilities such as senior
citizen centers in many of the municipalities. The services we
ensure are delivered for special needs citizens, ranging from
vocational opportunities to residential care, would be virtually
impossible to be provided on a municipal level.
There are several areas of service that we carry
out that are not as clearly defined. In the area of
transportation, the County Commissioners serve as members of the
Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission (SPC). It is the entity
that oversees how federal highway and transit funds are utilized
in the 10-county region. Our relationship with municipal
government allows us to seek input from municipal leaders and
their constituents, through both our Public Participation Panel
and through interaction of our planning department employees and
local leaders and their staffs. We do not "fund" highway and
bridge projects in a sense that it is dollars from county
government that pay for the work. But we ensure projects are
placed on plans and advanced through the process.
The other area in which we work that is not a
mandated program for county governments is economic development.
The county's primary vehicle to do that work is our Industrial
Development Corporation (IDC). The IDC has developed a network
of industrial parks that provide employment in both green field
parks in a number of townships and brown field parks in some of
our small cities. Most municipal governments do not have the
staff to carry out such endeavors. We also maintain an inventory
of available commercial buildings when investors are seeking
space, operate a business-calling program to assist existing
businesses, and are available to assist local governments if
they do undertake economic development projects.
As you can see there are a broad range of
activities where county government and municipal governments
work together to better serve our shared constituents. Many
functions are areas that we all take for granted, but when
thought about clearly demonstrate that the working relationship
is a close one. We are always striving to improve the level of
communication because we recognize at the county level that with
limited resources available to all parties, we must be efficient
and creative in order to maximize the delivery of services.
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