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December 2, 2003
GovPro Newsletter
Tuesday, December 2, 2003 Volume 2, Issue 47
Welcome to the GovPro Newsletter brought to you by the Penton Government Media Group. Look forward to news, resources, product and supplier information, and links relating to the government market.
If this message was sent in error or you wish to unsubscribe, see the unsubscribe information below.
Sponsored by Crown Equipment
CONTENTS
Creative Program Funds Fleet Cities Cut Services Win a Samsung Digimax 35 Digital Camera and MP3 Player DOE to Form Private Partnerships Crime Data Available Online for Public Soy Users Winner News of The Weird
FEATURES
CITYS EQUIPMENT PROGRAM PUTS MONEY IN THE BANK
As an experienced municipal fleet manager, Mark Stinson is well aware of the duties his position involves. His responsibilities in Lees Summit, MO, include overseeing some 339 pieces of equipment, ranging from street department concrete saws to an articulated truck at the sanitary landfill.
But just as important, Stinson knows what his responsibilities should not include. As he puts it: We are not in the business of repairing machines.
To ensure this Kansas City suburb stays out of the repair business, Lees Summit purchases all of its heavy equipment for 13 separate departments with a guaranteed repair cost.
We are set for everything but geared mainly for routine maintenance, Stinson says. We change the fluids, hoses, cylinders, and wear items, but all repairs are the vendors responsibility. They dont cost us a dime.
For complete text and graphics, visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.2.3wpq.5c17
CITIES CUT SERVICES, INCREASE FEES TO CONFRONT WORSENING FISCAL SQUEEZE
As a result of an increasing squeeze on municipal budgets, many cities and towns are cutting staff and increasing fees, according to survey of 328 cities by the National League of Cities.
The 19th annual survey of city finances found more than four out of five finance directors surveyed (81 percent) said their cities were less able to meet financial needs compared with the previous year, the largest proportion since 1990.
Spending increases outpaced revenue increases in cities' 2002-2003 fiscal year by 3.1 percent compared to the previous year. The gap in revenues and expenditures was fueled by rising employee healthcare and pension costs, declines in sales, income and tourist tax revenues, cuts in state aid, and increased demands for spending on public safety and homeland security.
City finance officers said the biggest negative factors affecting budgets were: -- Costs of city workers' health benefits (cited by 63 percent), -- Costs of city workers' pensions (30 percent), -- Reduction in state aid (29 percent), -- The local economy (25 percent), and -- Infrastructure needs (25 percent).
Cities are responding by cutting back personnel and government spending in areas other than public safety, curtailing capital and infrastructure investment, raising user fees and charges, and drawing down ending balances, or rainy day funds, which cities set aside for emergencies.
In response to the deteriorating fiscal condition of cities: -- Nearly half (47 percent) of all cities increased fee rates in 2003, -- 30 percent reduced city employment, -- 29 percent imposed new fees or charges on services, -- 21 percent reduced actual levels of capital spending, and -- 11 percent reduced city service levels.
Cities have drawn down their ending balances, or rainy day funds, which cities set aside for emergencies. Ending balances as a percentage of expenditures dropped to 17.9 percent, the lowest level in five years.
Last week, National League of Cities President John DeStefano Jr., Mayor of New Haven, Conn., said the U.S. is under-investing in cities and towns and called for a stronger federal-local partnership to fund programs that help build and preserve the middle class in America. "Under-funded public schools, smaller police forces, deteriorating transportation systems, expensive health care, sprawl -- these are public choices that increasingly subvert our American ideal, even as we fight for it overseas."
While there are signs of an improving economy, the effects are unlikely to be felt by cities and towns soon and city officials are anticipating that budgets will be equally pinched next year.
"Even if the economy fully recovered tomorrow, cities would still be facing increased fiscal stress over the next year," said Chris Hoene, research manager at the National League of Cities. "This is because of rising costs for cities and towns such as healthcare and pensions, new responsibilities such as homeland security, cuts in state aid to cover state shortfalls, and continued need to invest in infrastructure."
For a summary of the survey findings, visit http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.3.1vd9.5c17
. The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization for American cities. NLC serves as a resource and advocate for 18,000 cities, towns and villages of all sizes, from New York City to Bee Cave, Texas, which collectively serve 225 million people. The NLC's annual Congress of Cities in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 11-13, 2003, will draw thousands of delegates from across the nation to discuss these and many other challenges cities face.
CROWN EQUIPMENT
Crown Equipment designs, manufactures, distributes, services, and supports material handling products that provide customers with superior value. Electric lift trucks range from hand pallet trucks to very narrow-aisle (VNA) turret trucks. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.4.3f0q.5c17
WE'RE GIVING AWAY A SAMSUNG DIGIMAX 35 DIGITAL CAMERA AND MP3 PLAYER! Tell us about your planned purchases of mobile communications equipment and systems for 2004. Your valuable input will help us understand current usage and future needs in the marketplace. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.5.3wpr.5c17
NEWS
DOE Seeks Public-Private Partnerships
U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) is moving ahead with the next major phase of the Nuclear Power 2010 program, seeking formal applications from nuclear generating companies to partner with the department on licensing activities that would enable a new nuclear plant to be ordered and licensed for deployment early in the decade. The activities include preparation and submittal of combined construction and operating (or "one-step") license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and certification of advanced, Generation III+ nuclear plant designs.
POLICE TO PUT CRIME MAPPING SYSTEM ON WEB
San Francisco is implementing a system from the software company ESRI that will enable it to map criminal hotspots around the city's neighborhood and make this information available to police, and eventually to the public, via personal computers. Users will be able to display the data according to a variety of factors, such as type of crime, neighborhood, and time period. The system will be made available to the public through the Web sometime in the next few months, although police have not yet decided what level of detail to make available. This decision will have to take into account such possibilities as criminals using the system to find which neighborhoods have relatively little crime and thus may have relatively low police presence. Many cities across the United States have implemented some sort of crime mapping system in recent years, but San Francisco's is more robust than most, because it was able to get a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Justice for community policing. Arrests will be available onscreen within 24 hours after the information is entered, and will later become viewable immediately afterward. Source: the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center.
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR HONORS USERS OF SOY-BASED BIOPRODUCTS
The Department of Interiors (DOI) 2003 Environmental Achievement Award winners include four users of biobased products including soy biodiesel, lubricants and cleaning supplies. Soybean checkoff-funded research and development made the usage of many of the soy-based ingredients possible.
More than 50 applicants from throughout DOI vied for the awards given for exceptional environmental work, and nine were selected to receive top honors at a ceremony in Washington, D.C in November of 2003.
Teams Category winners include Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, a user of soy biodiesel and biobased lubricants. Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska also won for usage of soy-based lubricants.
In the cooperators category, Mammoth Cave National Park and Mammoth Cave Hotel in Kentucky were recognized for implementation of soy biodiesel. Signal Mountain Lodge at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, a user of soy-based cleaning supplies, earned honors as well.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD: Bizarre but true stories about real people. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.6.3woh.5c17
LINKS
Cat Skid Steer Loaders and Multi-Terrain Loaders are designed and built for performance and versatility. Spec your loader at http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.8.2tfw.5c17
Upbeats Institutional Catalog features site furnishings/amenities including trash containers, park benches, picnic tables, ash urns, bike racks, banners and more. Shop online http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.9.2vrr.5c17
Safety Storage, the first choice for custom and pre-fabricated hazardous storage buildings. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.10.2nuv.5c17
Ford offers the widest variety of trucks built for commercial applications. Everything from E-Series cargo vans and wagons to Super Duty F-Series trucks and chassis cabs. Be sure to visit your local Ford dealer. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.11.3f0s.5c17
Custom-designed Meyer snow plows fit exact vehicle frame and weight specifications for exceptional performance in all applications. Visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.12.2hqf.5c17
C & H Distributors provide a fast, efficient way to purchase shelving, cabinets, packaging and shipping products, or office furniture. Visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.13.1jex.5c17
Cover-All Building Systems Inc is North America's largest manufacturer of pre-engineered clear span, membrane-covered frame structures. Offer clear span widths from 18 to 160 ft. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.14.1mue.5c17
You may qualify for a FREE Magazine Subscription
Complimentary subscriptions to Government Product News, a product-driven resource, and Government PROcurement, editorial targeting the public sector purchasing professional are available to those who qualify.
To subscribe to Government Product News visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.15.1jf8.5c17
To subscribe to Government Procurement visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.16.1jf9.5c17
Copyright 2003 Penton Media, Inc.
Welcome to the GovPro Newsletter brought to you by the Penton Government Media Group. Look forward to news, resources, product and supplier information, and links relating to the government market.
If this message was sent in error or you wish to unsubscribe, see the unsubscribe information below.
Sponsored by Crown Equipment
CONTENTS
Creative Program Funds Fleet Cities Cut Services Win a Samsung Digimax 35 Digital Camera and MP3 Player DOE to Form Private Partnerships Crime Data Available Online for Public Soy Users Winner News of The Weird
FEATURES
CITYS EQUIPMENT PROGRAM PUTS MONEY IN THE BANK
As an experienced municipal fleet manager, Mark Stinson is well aware of the duties his position involves. His responsibilities in Lees Summit, MO, include overseeing some 339 pieces of equipment, ranging from street department concrete saws to an articulated truck at the sanitary landfill.
But just as important, Stinson knows what his responsibilities should not include. As he puts it: We are not in the business of repairing machines.
To ensure this Kansas City suburb stays out of the repair business, Lees Summit purchases all of its heavy equipment for 13 separate departments with a guaranteed repair cost.
We are set for everything but geared mainly for routine maintenance, Stinson says. We change the fluids, hoses, cylinders, and wear items, but all repairs are the vendors responsibility. They dont cost us a dime.
For complete text and graphics, visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.2.3wpq.5c17
CITIES CUT SERVICES, INCREASE FEES TO CONFRONT WORSENING FISCAL SQUEEZE
As a result of an increasing squeeze on municipal budgets, many cities and towns are cutting staff and increasing fees, according to survey of 328 cities by the National League of Cities.
The 19th annual survey of city finances found more than four out of five finance directors surveyed (81 percent) said their cities were less able to meet financial needs compared with the previous year, the largest proportion since 1990.
Spending increases outpaced revenue increases in cities' 2002-2003 fiscal year by 3.1 percent compared to the previous year. The gap in revenues and expenditures was fueled by rising employee healthcare and pension costs, declines in sales, income and tourist tax revenues, cuts in state aid, and increased demands for spending on public safety and homeland security.
City finance officers said the biggest negative factors affecting budgets were: -- Costs of city workers' health benefits (cited by 63 percent), -- Costs of city workers' pensions (30 percent), -- Reduction in state aid (29 percent), -- The local economy (25 percent), and -- Infrastructure needs (25 percent).
Cities are responding by cutting back personnel and government spending in areas other than public safety, curtailing capital and infrastructure investment, raising user fees and charges, and drawing down ending balances, or rainy day funds, which cities set aside for emergencies.
In response to the deteriorating fiscal condition of cities: -- Nearly half (47 percent) of all cities increased fee rates in 2003, -- 30 percent reduced city employment, -- 29 percent imposed new fees or charges on services, -- 21 percent reduced actual levels of capital spending, and -- 11 percent reduced city service levels.
Cities have drawn down their ending balances, or rainy day funds, which cities set aside for emergencies. Ending balances as a percentage of expenditures dropped to 17.9 percent, the lowest level in five years.
Last week, National League of Cities President John DeStefano Jr., Mayor of New Haven, Conn., said the U.S. is under-investing in cities and towns and called for a stronger federal-local partnership to fund programs that help build and preserve the middle class in America. "Under-funded public schools, smaller police forces, deteriorating transportation systems, expensive health care, sprawl -- these are public choices that increasingly subvert our American ideal, even as we fight for it overseas."
While there are signs of an improving economy, the effects are unlikely to be felt by cities and towns soon and city officials are anticipating that budgets will be equally pinched next year.
"Even if the economy fully recovered tomorrow, cities would still be facing increased fiscal stress over the next year," said Chris Hoene, research manager at the National League of Cities. "This is because of rising costs for cities and towns such as healthcare and pensions, new responsibilities such as homeland security, cuts in state aid to cover state shortfalls, and continued need to invest in infrastructure."
For a summary of the survey findings, visit http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.3.1vd9.5c17
. The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization for American cities. NLC serves as a resource and advocate for 18,000 cities, towns and villages of all sizes, from New York City to Bee Cave, Texas, which collectively serve 225 million people. The NLC's annual Congress of Cities in Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 11-13, 2003, will draw thousands of delegates from across the nation to discuss these and many other challenges cities face.
CROWN EQUIPMENT
Crown Equipment designs, manufactures, distributes, services, and supports material handling products that provide customers with superior value. Electric lift trucks range from hand pallet trucks to very narrow-aisle (VNA) turret trucks. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.4.3f0q.5c17
WE'RE GIVING AWAY A SAMSUNG DIGIMAX 35 DIGITAL CAMERA AND MP3 PLAYER! Tell us about your planned purchases of mobile communications equipment and systems for 2004. Your valuable input will help us understand current usage and future needs in the marketplace. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.5.3wpr.5c17
NEWS
DOE Seeks Public-Private Partnerships
U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) is moving ahead with the next major phase of the Nuclear Power 2010 program, seeking formal applications from nuclear generating companies to partner with the department on licensing activities that would enable a new nuclear plant to be ordered and licensed for deployment early in the decade. The activities include preparation and submittal of combined construction and operating (or "one-step") license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and certification of advanced, Generation III+ nuclear plant designs.
POLICE TO PUT CRIME MAPPING SYSTEM ON WEB
San Francisco is implementing a system from the software company ESRI that will enable it to map criminal hotspots around the city's neighborhood and make this information available to police, and eventually to the public, via personal computers. Users will be able to display the data according to a variety of factors, such as type of crime, neighborhood, and time period. The system will be made available to the public through the Web sometime in the next few months, although police have not yet decided what level of detail to make available. This decision will have to take into account such possibilities as criminals using the system to find which neighborhoods have relatively little crime and thus may have relatively low police presence. Many cities across the United States have implemented some sort of crime mapping system in recent years, but San Francisco's is more robust than most, because it was able to get a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Justice for community policing. Arrests will be available onscreen within 24 hours after the information is entered, and will later become viewable immediately afterward. Source: the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center.
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR HONORS USERS OF SOY-BASED BIOPRODUCTS
The Department of Interiors (DOI) 2003 Environmental Achievement Award winners include four users of biobased products including soy biodiesel, lubricants and cleaning supplies. Soybean checkoff-funded research and development made the usage of many of the soy-based ingredients possible.
More than 50 applicants from throughout DOI vied for the awards given for exceptional environmental work, and nine were selected to receive top honors at a ceremony in Washington, D.C in November of 2003.
Teams Category winners include Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, a user of soy biodiesel and biobased lubricants. Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska also won for usage of soy-based lubricants.
In the cooperators category, Mammoth Cave National Park and Mammoth Cave Hotel in Kentucky were recognized for implementation of soy biodiesel. Signal Mountain Lodge at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, a user of soy-based cleaning supplies, earned honors as well.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD: Bizarre but true stories about real people. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.6.3woh.5c17
LINKS
Cat Skid Steer Loaders and Multi-Terrain Loaders are designed and built for performance and versatility. Spec your loader at http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.8.2tfw.5c17
Upbeats Institutional Catalog features site furnishings/amenities including trash containers, park benches, picnic tables, ash urns, bike racks, banners and more. Shop online http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.9.2vrr.5c17
Safety Storage, the first choice for custom and pre-fabricated hazardous storage buildings. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.10.2nuv.5c17
Ford offers the widest variety of trucks built for commercial applications. Everything from E-Series cargo vans and wagons to Super Duty F-Series trucks and chassis cabs. Be sure to visit your local Ford dealer. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.11.3f0s.5c17
Custom-designed Meyer snow plows fit exact vehicle frame and weight specifications for exceptional performance in all applications. Visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.12.2hqf.5c17
C & H Distributors provide a fast, efficient way to purchase shelving, cabinets, packaging and shipping products, or office furniture. Visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.13.1jex.5c17
Cover-All Building Systems Inc is North America's largest manufacturer of pre-engineered clear span, membrane-covered frame structures. Offer clear span widths from 18 to 160 ft. http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.14.1mue.5c17
You may qualify for a FREE Magazine Subscription
Complimentary subscriptions to Government Product News, a product-driven resource, and Government PROcurement, editorial targeting the public sector purchasing professional are available to those who qualify.
To subscribe to Government Product News visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.15.1jf8.5c17
To subscribe to Government Procurement visit: http://r.pm0.net/s/c?ij.75qj.16.1jf9.5c17
Copyright 2003 Penton Media, Inc.
