HR Green ASD for Local Governments Handbook - Executive Summary - Manual (Page 3)

3
Privatization
No public funding
or production of
service
Local Government
Core Service Delivery
Funded and provided by internal
unit of the local government
Public Private
Partnership
(3P)
Shared Risk
Strategic
Service
Consolidation
Combined or Joint
Provision of Service
for two or more local
i
Contracting/Outsourcing
with private or
nonprofit source
Managed Competition
Contracts with internal
and external competing
units
Interlocal Agreements
Shared service delivery
with other local
governments
Informal and Formal
Arrangements
Figure 1. Blurring the Boundaries of Local Public Service Delivery
Second, four of the ASD methods have overlapping relationships, and the boundary between two
overlapping methods is blurred. For example, one could be talking about an E911 service collaboration as a
service consolidation or an interlocal agreement—or both. One could be discussing contracting for police or
fire services in terms of a managed competition or as an interlocal agreement—or both; for example, the
internal fire unit may be competing against the potential interlocal agreement with a neighboring local
government to provide fire protection. Similarly, managed competition and outsourcing share much in
common (paying another provider to deliver the public service instead of the internal unit), but managed
competition assumes there is competition among providers (even if only 2), while outsourcing often does not
involve competition at all (which raises important questions about its efficacy, as discussed in chapter 2).
The notable exception to the overlapping model is public-private-partnerships (3P). The 3P options are
distinctive ventures that have little in common with the other methods of ASD. While there is normally a
formal agreement between the local government and the private provider, the character of the projects and
the agreements for 3P ventures are quite distinct from the delivery of other public services. As discussed in
chapter 5, these ventures require strategic thinking and action with long-term risk shared by both the local
government and the private sector partner.
So here are our definitions, and the way we distinguish between the topics in this handbook. The reader will
note overlaps throughout the chapters, and we will discuss them more fully in the concluding chapter. The
transition between outsourcing and managed competition is a particularly fluid one, and the Village of
Glenview offers an example of a local government that is evolving from an outsourcing to a managed
competition model in its approach to alternative service delivery.