Measuring municipalities' use of home rule powers.

• Author: Wood, Curtis
• Position: [PM.sup.2] CONNECTIONS: PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT & & MANAGEMENT

Examining the degree of municipal discretionary authority in relationship to the state government, and taking measures of municipal performance at the jurisdiction level allows us to see how these organizations are using their home rule power. In 2010, the author conducted a study that examined the effects of municipal discretion on municipal performance. The author used a municipal discretion index consisting of 22 criteria (indicators) across five categories (types) of municipal discretion--legal definition of home rule, structural discretion, functional discretion, fiscal discretion, and municipal influence/success with state officials. Points were assigned for each survey response within each indicator (see Curtis Wood, "Municipal Discretion during the Great Recession," Government Finance Review, April 2011, for more information about the study).

The five categories are equally weighted in that each type of municipal discretion can average a maximum of 25 points. The average points for the five categories are added; thus, a maximum municipal discretion score of 125 points is possible for each municipality. The higher the municipal discretion score, the more municipal discretion that is permitted by the state and used by the municipality. (1) The responses of the 269 municipalities that provided information were used to calculate a total discretion score for each municipality. The mean total municipal discretion score for the 269 municipalities is 47.84 points. The minimum total municipal discretion score is 9.7 points; the maximum score is 87.3 points; and the standard deviation is 15.53 points.

The city managers or administrators in the 22 most empowered municipalities were asked to describe and explain one initiative that would not have been possible without the discretionary authority granted by the state government, and to explain the internal and external effects of the initiative. Of the 22 municipalities with the highest total municipal discretion scores, seven are located in Illinois, four in Colorado, two each in Texas and Georgia, and one each in Arizona, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, and South Dakota.

Nine cities in five states responded to the author's invitation. Exhibit 1 lists the nine municipalities that provided performance information about an initiative that would not have been possible but for home rule authority. Included in Exhibit 1 is each municipality's total discretion score and the scores for the five types of municipal discretion-legal, structural, functional, fiscal, and success/influence with state officials.

CASE STUDY RESULTS

Manhattan, Illinois. The Village of Manhattan, whose citizens voted to become a home rule community in 1996, levied a 1 percent home rule sales tax to finance the reconstruction, widening, and beautification of a downtown roadway. Half of the sales tax proceeds are used to repay the internal loan from the facilities fund, and the other half replaces the vehicle sticker tax that had been used to finance general fund services and programs.

The village has experienced positive outcomes in the year since the project was completed. Although new downtown businesses have not been attracted to the downtown clue to the sluggish economy, citizens continuously comment about the improved appearance of the area...