Shared Services – Toolkit
What are shared services?
Promoting shared services or service sharing has been a priority of CRCOG for many years. Shared services can provide municipalities, school districts, councils of governments, and other public agencies with the ability to pool their resources to provide a higher level of service, while taking advantage of economies of scale to utilize taxpayer funds more efficiently and effectively.
Service sharing is often used to provide administrative and support services, such as financial management, information technology, and facilities maintenance. Within the CRCOG region, the municipalities of Mansfield, Plainville, and West Hartford all share administrative and support services with their respective school districts.
The shared services model is also effective for community-based services, particularly those requiring a specialized professional or technical skill set such as animal control, building inspection, waste management, and public health. The Town of Bolton, for instance, manages a regional building inspection program that serves three other communities – Andover, Ashford, and Willington. As another example, the municipalities of Windsor and Bloomfield have shared a landfill and transfer station for many years.
Good governance, communication, and collaboration are all essential components to a successful shared services partnership. Interlocal agreements or other collaborative agreements are recommended as a governance tool to detail how the participating entities will fund, manage, and provide shared services. Regular meetings and interaction between the principals is also encouraged to foster communication and collaboration, and to track performance.
The State of Connecticut supports service sharing by statute and through various grant programs. The Regional Performance Incentive Program (RPIP) administered by the Office of Policy & Management (OPM) offers an opportunity to lower barriers of entry for shared services. Grant recipients can use the program to fund staff and support infrastructure to start up a new shared service venture. Both councils of governments (COG) and regional education service centers (RESC) are eligible to apply to the RPIP on behalf of their members. Please contact Robyn Nichols for more information on RPIP grants.
Additionally, the Capitol Region Purchasing Council (CRPC) is frequently used for joint contracting, currently serving over 140 municipalities, BOE’s, and other various gov’t organizations. The CRPC functions as both a supplemental procurement office as well as a distributor of purchasing-related information and expertise. Please contact Kim Bona for more information on the CRPC.
Examples in our Region
See example agreements for the services in bold below
Animal control Building inspection Dispatch services Economic development Financial management Fire prevention K-12 Education | Facilities and grounds maintenance Human resources IT support Public health Waste management Water and wastewater services Childcare services |
Example Agreements with School Districts
Example Agreement Between Municipalities
Example Agreements with Health District
Example Agreement with Downtown Non-Profit
Relevant Statutes and Laws
- Public Act No. 24-151 - Sec. 127Public Act including Governors Bill on shared services (pg 154)
- Joint Performance of Municipal Functions - CT Gen Stat § 7-148cc Permits municipalities to jointly perform municipal functions
- Sharing Tax Revenues between Municipalities - CT Gen Stat § 7-148bb Allows municipalities to enter an agreement to share tax revenues
- Regional Economic Development and Sharing Revenue - CT Gen Stat § 7-148kkAllows municipalities to share personal and property tax income from new economic development to fund regional economic development
- Regional Performance Incentive Program - CT Gen Stat § 4-124sOutline of RPIP program
- Interlocal Agreements: Definitions - CT Gen Stat § 7-339aDefines key terms in shared services and interlocal agreements
- Municipal Option to Delay Reevaluation - Public Act 09-60 sec. 2Allows towns to establish a regional revaluation program.
- Joint Issuance of Bonds - CT Gen Stat § 7-136Allows municipalities to jointly issue bonds
- Regional Economic Development Commissions - CT Gen Stat §7-137Allows for the formation of a regional economic development commission
- Police Assistance Agreements - CT Gen Stat § 7-277aAllows municipalities to enter an agreement to assign police personnel to another municipality temporarily
- Metropolitan Districts - CT Gen Stat § 7-333 to 7-339All statutes relating to Metropolitan Districts
- Joint Activity - CT Gen Stat § 8-136jAllows municipalities to jointly carry out a community development activity
- Joint Projects - CT Gen Stat § 8-196Allows municipalities to jointly implement a development project
- Joint Projects - CT Gen Stat § 8-196Allows municipalities to jointly implement a development project
- Municipal Resource Recovery Authority - CT Gen Stat § Chp 103Allows municipalities to create joint boards for services. Used in the creation of the CCSWA.
- Joint Municipal Employers - CT Gen Stat § 7-478aTwo or more municipalities in an interlocal agreement are considered a single employer.
- Interlocal Risk Pools - CT Gen Stat § 7-479bAllows municipalities to pool risk by co-purchasing insurance.
Additional Resources
State of New York Local Government Management Guide: Shared Services in Local Government. Please note, since this document is from another state, the statutory references do not apply for Connecticut, and it is being provided for general information only.
Capital Region Purchasing Council (CRPC). A cooperative council which offers programs and services for our members to save money, time, and create efficiencies.
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