The Town That Privatized Everything Except Police, Fire and 911...

[Selene]

Fascinating story...

Sandy Springs, Georgia may look like any other town in America. It has parks, roads, and beautiful places to live. But there’s one thing that separates this town from every other town: Sandy Springs privatized almost everything.

In 2005, Sandy Springs outsourced almost all functions of the city government (with the exception of police and fire) to a single company, which runs the town. That company is in charge of running all the vital functions of government, from the running the parks, to paving the roads, and even 911 calls!

Amazingly, everything runs well with no backlogs!

The town is run very efficiently, with zero backlogs in permit requests. Call the city, and you’ll be surprised to find that you actually get a friendly person on the other line! The city has a 24/7 non-automated customer service hotline which fields about 6,000 calls per month. It also has a state of the art traffic system with cameras and a high tech command center.

Here is the closing argument:

When the project first started, the University of Georgia estimated that the city would need 828 employees. But because the town is managed by a private company, they’ve cut their workforce down to just 471 people. Besides fire and police, the city only has eight full-time public employees.

So, apparently, this town has cut employee costs, which includes pension contributions, health care and other imposed "perks" of a "public civil service" job by fifty percent (50%).

Surely this is not something that "government," at any level cannot comprehend since there is no profit incentive to cut costs.

Now here is another shock, actually not shocking at all, due to efficient business applications:

Because of this efficiency, Sandy Springs generates huge surpluses. They have no unfunded liabilities. The city specifically decided not to use the traditional pension model – a model which has put almost every government across America in an unsustainable pension crisis. Instead, employees can choose their own 401K package to prepare for retirement, if they wish.

Hmm, no unfunded liabilities.

Surpluses.

Options for the employee to fund their own "pension/retirement" plans based on actual math.

For example:

This has given the town of Sandy Springs lots of extra cash to work with – a surplus that they put into building for the future.

According to Sharon Kraun, “The city, as a matter of policy, sets aside 25% of revenues into a reserve during each budget planning cycle. Capital improvements have been a major focus during our first eight years, with more than $185 million invested in capital infrastructure.

Additionally:

This has lead to lots of improvements around the town. The city has repaved 147 miles of streets, 874 storm water projects, and built 32 miles of new sidewalks.

Hmm, seems to indicate that a prescient paradigm has clear effects in delivering services to the taxpayers.

Plus one million dollars [$1,000,000.00] to the taxpayer on one competitive vendor alone annually:

If part of the government performs poorly, the city can fire that company, and bid the contract to another company. In 2011, the city said farewell to the main company that was managing the vital functions of government CH2M Hill, and opted to go with another company. This saved the city over a million dollars.

Contrary to the global cooling, oops global warming oops, ah, "climate change" models, this applied model, does work:

Many cities across the world are looking at Sandy Springs. Oliver Porter, one of the main architects behind the move to incorporate the town, has given speaking engagements all over the world, from Britain, to Iceland, Japan, and Latin America.

”I’ve been increasingly asked to give advice and lectures around the country,” said Porter in a recent interview with WND, “This is also an international model.”

A is A. Private applications work. Government models do not.

http://isil.org/the-town-that-privatized-everything/

[Backlighting]

A nice addition to a "Happy File of Objectivist Living" stickie.

[syrakusos]

Actually, they did contract out E911 service. "But its 911 dispatch center is operated by a private company, iXP, with headquarters in Cranbury, N.J". - Marginal Revolution here. The reason that police and fire were not outsourced was the cost of insurance.

Also, a key is that this is not a monopoly or single provider contract. it is not true that "the city can fire that company, and bid the contract to another company." In fact, services are parceled out, as above 911 to iXP.

Applying for a business license? Speak to a woman with Severn Trent, a multinational company based in Coventry, England. Want to build a new deck on your house? Chat with an employee of Collaborative Consulting, based in Burlington, Mass. Need a word with people who oversee trash collection? That would be the URS Corporation, based in San Francisco.

Even the city’s court, which is in session on this May afternoon, next to the revenue division, is handled by a private company, the Jacobs Engineering Group of Pasadena, Calif. The company’s staff is in charge of all administrative work, though the judge, Lawrence Young, is essentially a legal temp, paid a flat rate of $100 an hour.

Marginal Revolution here.

Some of the companies that lost the competitive bids for various services were granted time and materials contracts for "just in case." They were paid nothing if they were not called upon, but they were held in reserve as invisible (ior not so invisible) competition.

That story at MR was based on this 2012 from the New York Times.

This story from the Atlanta Business Journal is from 2005 when the effort was launched.

Article with video 2011 from Huffington Post.

Also, whatever the problems were with CH2M Hill, the firm seems world class and ethical. Of course, if you browse for "CH2M Hill Scandal" you can find more than a few hits.

[Selene]

Actually, they did contract out E911 service. "But its 911 dispatch center is operated by a private company, iXP, with headquarters in Cranbury, N.J". - Marginal Revolution here. The reason that police and fire were not outsourced was the cost of insurance.

er the problems were with CH2M Hill, the firm seems world class and ethical. Of course, if you browse for "CH2M Hill Scandal" you can find more than a few hits.

Which is fine, and an understandable risk, properly l actuarily evaluated and targeted to, as a risk to offer this community, makes perfect sense.

Good info Mike.

Clearly, the article did not make that clear. However, it only makes the case more clearly on the side of normal business practices of spreading the risk and avoiding the issue of "adverse selection" when you assess the risks.

A...

[BaalChatzaf]

Fascinating story...

Sandy Springs, Georgia may look like any other town in America. It has parks, roads, and beautiful places to live. But there’s one thing that separates this town from every other town: Sandy Springs privatized almost everything.

In 2005, Sandy Springs outsourced almost all functions of the city government (with the exception of police and fire) to a single company, which runs the town. That company is in charge of running all the vital functions of government, from the running the parks, to paving the roads, and even 911 calls!

Amazingly, everything runs well with no backlogs!

The town is run very efficiently, with zero backlogs in permit requests. Call the city, and you’ll be surprised to find that you actually get a friendly person on the other line! The city has a 24/7 non-automated customer service hotline which fields about 6,000 calls per month. It also has a state of the art traffic system with cameras and a high tech command center.

Here is the closing argument:

When the project first started, the University of Georgia estimated that the city would need 828 employees. But because the town is managed by a private company, they’ve cut their workforce down to just 471 people. Besides fire and police, the city only has eight full-time public employees.

So, apparently, this town has cut employee costs, which includes pension contributions, health care and other imposed "perks" of a "public civil service" job by fifty percent (50%).

Surely this is not something that "government," at any level cannot comprehend since there is no profit incentive to cut costs.

Now here is another shock, actually not shocking at all, due to efficient business applications:

Because of this efficiency, Sandy Springs generates huge surpluses. They have no unfunded liabilities. The city specifically decided not to use the traditional pension model – a model which has put almost every government across America in an unsustainable pension crisis. Instead, employees can choose their own 401K package to prepare for retirement, if they wish.

Hmm, no unfunded liabilities.

Surpluses.

Options for the employee to fund their own "pension/retirement" plans based on actual math.

For example:

This has given the town of Sandy Springs lots of extra cash to work with – a surplus that they put into building for the future.

According to Sharon Kraun, “The city, as a matter of policy, sets aside 25% of revenues into a reserve during each budget planning cycle. Capital improvements have been a major focus during our first eight years, with more than $185 million invested in capital infrastructure.

Additionally:

This has lead to lots of improvements around the town. The city has repaved 147 miles of streets, 874 storm water projects, and built 32 miles of new sidewalks.

Hmm, seems to indicate that a prescient paradigm has clear effects in delivering services to the taxpayers.

Plus one million dollars [$1,000,000.00] to the taxpayer on one competitive vendor alone annually:

If part of the government performs poorly, the city can fire that company, and bid the contract to another company. In 2011, the city said farewell to the main company that was managing the vital functions of government CH2M Hill, and opted to go with another company. This saved the city over a million dollars.

Contrary to the global cooling, oops global warming oops, ah, "climate change" models, this applied model, does work:

Many cities across the world are looking at Sandy Springs. Oliver Porter, one of the main architects behind the move to incorporate the town, has given speaking engagements all over the world, from Britain, to Iceland, Japan, and Latin America.

”I’ve been increasingly asked to give advice and lectures around the country,” said Porter in a recent interview with WND, “This is also an international model.”

A is A. Private applications work. Government models do not.

http://isil.org/the-town-that-privatized-everything/

How big a company would be needed to run New York City as efficiently?

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Selene]

How big a company would be needed to run New York City as efficiently?

Ba'al Chatzaf

Depends on which crime family we want to give the exclusive to.

[Derek McGowan]

while privatization of many services is the right thing to do, the way it appears that this town does it appears to be dangerously close to cronyism. While it may not be a single company that handles everything, it is still a. single companies handling everything for each category and b. the local government has basically chosen what companies to do it, granting these companies (and through who knows what back doors) monopoly powers.

What should happen is the local government should sell off the services/infrastructure as an business interest in a unregulated environment, so that the owners would be employed by the direct customers and not by the government.

(that may involve acts of local delegations to sell off public infrastructure)

[BaalChatzaf]

Depends onkl which crime family we want to give the exclusive to.

That remark is not personal, it is business.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Selene]

Depends onkl which crime family we want to give the exclusive to.

That remark is not personal, it is business.

Ba'al Chatzaf

I know, lol.