A think tank is forming to look at possible ways to combine services in Freeborn County and Albert Lea city government, as well as other municipalities.

&uot;Where there’s duplication, you end up paying twice,&uot; said Henry Savelkoul, who will head the group, the Unification Task Force, which will study local services. It is still being organized by the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce and will have 12 to 14 members, including city and rural residents of the county.

The group comes at a time when budgets are strained, and officials are looking for ways to save money. Savelkoul had a list of services he said overlapped and could possibly be combined.

The city and county roads; the police and sheriff’s office; data processing in the schools, city and county; planning and zoning; building inspections; computer systems; and maintenance crews were among things he said could possibly be combined.

&uot;We need to eliminate waste before we do things like cut library hours and other services,&uot; he said.

He said he expected some resistance, since the plan may mean the loss of jobs or power for some people. He said his personal preference would be to reinvest the saved money back into the community. But he said the benefits could include lower taxes.

Paul Sparks, Albert Lea city manager, agreed that there are departments that could be combined, namely the building and zoning boards, and building inspections. County Administrator Ron Gabrielsen agreed.

Sparks pointed out that on the outside, some services look similar but have different functions when looked at more closely. The county and city deal with two different types of areas, and have different roles in many cases, he said.

For example, the county processes property taxes data while the city processes utility bills.

The county deals with ditches and septic tanks. The city deals with curbs, gutters and sewage treatment.

The police and sheriff’s department, he pointed out, already share dispatching, locker rooms, offices, records and an evidence room.

&uot;We’ve already combined the easy parts,&uot; he said. He also said that changing administration in the sheriff’s department could be unpopular, and require a change in state law if it meant doing away with an elected official.

Sparks also said that the two departments have little overlap in their roles &045; the police do more localized patrol and investigations, and the deputies do more far-reaching patrols.

But he was positive overall about the effort, and said he looked forward to hearing the groups’ ideas, which he thought can make government more efficient and cost effective.

&uot;I support it. I’ll be glad to work with them and offer advice and information,&uot; he said.

Gabrielsen said he will work with the group and said he thought it could offer ideas to not just save money but make county government more efficient, and effective.

But he said since there are no official proposals as of yet, he couldn’t comment specifically.

(Contact Tim Sturrock at tim.sturrock@albertleatribune.com or 379-3438.)