Municipal consolidation can yield significant savings.

Lewiston and Auburn are now on their third citizens commission to study consolidation of municipal services.

In 1996, there was L/A Together, then in 2004, the city councils established the Lewiston-Auburn Commission on Joint Services. The recommendations of these groups were well-received, but few were implemented. Any savings or improved delivery of services that could have been realized were lost through inaction.

In this time of belt-tightening, Lewiston and Auburn do not have the luxury to walk away from annual taxpayer savings of $2.7 million, as has been identified by the current, third citizens commission.

We know with certainty that at least $2.7 million can be saved annually within five years, if Lewiston and Auburn move ahead with consolidating municipal government functions. This amounts to more than $27 million in savings every decade, if one considers the future value of eliminating duplicate expenditures.

These savings, however, do not include schools. If Lewiston and Auburn consolidated school departments, the savings to taxpayers would be considerably greater, since schools are the largest piece of the annual budget in both communities. Further, on the municipal and school side, it is expected that additional savings would be revealed as consolidation moves forward.

We also know from public opinion polling in 1996 and 2006 that solid support for greater cooperation exists among the citizens of Lewiston and Auburn, especially if it promises to save money and improve services. It does.

The current citizens commission began work in early 2007. It has not made any formal recommendations about consolidation to the councils, but plans to do so shortly. In simple terms, consolidation means one police department instead of two; one fire department; one public works department, and so forth.

At the request of the councils, we studied options for combining assessing functions, including whether it could be offered on a countywide basis, rather than just Lewiston-Auburn. We also have commissioned a study of computer services, since much of consolidation’s success will depend on using the same computer software in both cities.

Soon, we will make recommendations in these two areas, plus others examined previously. We will provide the councils with our best judgment. Councilors will then be free to accept, reject, or change our recommendations.

We encourage more conversation, so the best ideas come forward. Achieving savings is the most important thing, not how we get there. Also, if assessing proves too difficult as a pilot project, how about public works?

We have to start somewhere.

Lewiston and Auburn have successfully worked together for more than 150 years. Examples include the railroad, water, airport, buses and sewage treatment. We expect similar success from consolidation of municipal services.

Consolidating municipal services is hard work; if easy, it would have been done long ago and we would be reaping the benefits now. Its challenges include: Which city manager and council would consolidated departments report to? How are differences in pay balanced? How are differences in personnel policies and fringe benefits reconciled? Are operating policies and procedures between the cities different enough to require cross training? How does liability get assigned? How would space be allocated between the city halls? We are confident that people committed to this process can find answers to these and other policy questions.

Are there enough identified savings from consolidation to justify moving forward? Yes! Lewiston and Auburn are one community with two governments; we should embrace the opportunity to save money and enjoy improved delivery of services.

We welcome public comments to the citizens commission, about whether it supports the consolidation of municipal services to benefit everyone in the great cities of Lewiston and Auburn. The Twin Cities are looked upon as the leaders in municipal cooperation in Maine. Let’s take pride in that accomplishment while continuing to set the pace.

The citizens commission is committed to working with the councils to get the job done.

Peter Garcia, of Auburn, and Bette Swett-Thibeault, of Lewiston, are the co-chairs of the Citizen’s Commission on Lewiston-Auburn Cooperation.