City county, find ways to cooperate

Staff

Published Tuesday, August 31, 2004

By Jennifer Rogers and Ann Austin, Tribune staff reporters

With city and Freeborn County budgets stretched so tight, officials in both offices are looking at ways to share services when there is duplication in an effort to save money.

The public library is one example of a successful cooperative venture, according to State Rep. Dan Dorman (R-Albert Lea) and other services are being looked at as well, such as the planning and zoning offices and

sharing a sanitation inspector.

The combination of the planning and zoning offices would make them available to more communities that cannot afford a planner of their own, such as Hayward and Glenville. The joint sanitation inspector would also help cut costs to smaller towns in the county as they use a state-appointed inspector which can cost up to three times more than a local one.

"There are enough good reasons to try (sharing services)

... eventually somebody has to do it," he said.

The change is not a new concept for the city and county. They already share such services as the geographic information system, a fiber optic cable system which allows the city and county to share information confidentially and quickly, and a transfer station.

The two arms of law enforcement - the Albert Lea Police and the County Sheriff's office - also offer some services to residents in the city and the county.

The combination of services has been in effect for about three years and Freeborn County was one of the leaders in the movement toward joint services, said County Administrator Ron Gabrielsen

"We are light-years ahead of most counties in the way we work together," he said.

While some duplicated services could be combined, some like Public Works and Highway would be too costly to combine at this time, said Gabrielsen.

Two offices that could not be combined are the city and county attorney's offices, and sheriff and police departments, said Gabrielsen.

"There are some things that are driven constitutionally," said Gabrielsen.

The Minnesota State Constitution requires a sheriff for every county and a police department for every city, along with legal representation for both the county and city.

Gabrielsen will continue to work with Albert Lea city manager Victoria Simonsen to determine where services could be combined to the benefit of both governments.

"(The county) wants to look further at ways we can work together to cut costs, and combine inspection services and law enforcement," said Simonsen. "They would like to see a more active approach from the city."

"We are doing everything we can to be lean and mean," said Gabrielsen.

For now, both the city and the county will continue to explore other options for sharing.services and will have a joint meeting scheduled in October to discuss them.

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---