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URBAN INNOVATIONS IN ILLINOIS Urban Innovations in Illinois has announced its new award winners for 1992. Urban Innovation in Illinois seeks to identify innovative practices in local governments. This is the second set of awards given by the organization in the last four years. It documents and discusses these innovations with local government officials and recognizes noteworthy activities with Awards. This year the awards program is being sponsored by the Illinois Government Finance Officers Association. The awards are given in five different categories. Those categories are: 1 — Cost of Service Measures (eg innovative use of an MIS system joining budgeting and management accounting) Those entities allowed to submit award applications are municipal cities, villages, towns or municipal organizations. The following is a list of award winners, by category, and brief summaries of their programs. COST OF SERVICE The winning awards in the Cost of Service category go to the villages of Bensenville, Palatine, Northlake, and the City of Chicago Heights. Bensenville developed an innovative inspection program designed to stem the deterioration of aging industrial complexes in the Village. In prior years Bensenville required that the Fire Department inspect industrial complexes for fire safety-related issues while non-fire code enforcement was conducted by the Building and Zoning Department. The Village trained the Fire Department staff to inspect for building code violations. The Fire Department personnel inspected all 1100 businesses in the community during the first year of the program. This process resulted in drastic improvements in the industrial community and will result in long-term maintenance of the property since the owners are aware of the Fire Department's intent to inspect annually. Palatine also developed an innovative inspection program. In this case the Fire Prevention Bureau and the Building Inspection Bureau were both made part of a Combined Inspection Service. Prior to this each bureau was responsible for conducting its own plan reviews and inspections. The benefits from this combination was an increase in the level of customer service by producing better access for builders, business owners, and home owners in the community. The combined inspection services acts as a clearinghouse in the plan review process. The bottom line is that the Combined Inspection Services program saves the customer both time and money by streamlining the permit and inspection process and by reducing the number of meetings. Northlake developed a Utility Tax Relief Program which is designed to provide rate relief to citizens with limited income. The program provides utility tax rebate checks to citizens based on income level guidelines. Rebates are given a different level for customers with annual income levels under $16,000. Chicago Heights has implemented an innovative system using new technology. To modernize its water billing system the City purchased a personal computer cash register system. This system uses scanners and programmable slip printers to validate transactions and validates check by transaction. Reports create separate banks allowing the use of one enlarged cash drawer and make check lists to eliminate manual calculator listing of checks. This system eliminates key punching for water billing. Customer water readings are entered on the system at the register. QUANTITATIVE PERFORMANCE MEASURES Roselle created a Service Request/Complaint Program. This program was developed in pursuit of the objective of insuring that all service requests are responded to promptly. When a service request is re- February 1993 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 11 ceived, a Service Request/Complaint form is filled out by the Village employee. Upon resolution of the service request, the resident is sent a postage-paid card providing for an evaluation of the Village's handling of the service request. On a monthly basis a report summarizing that month's activities is developed. It shows the number of service requests received, the number of evaluation cards received, and a breakdown of the level of satisfaction indicated by residents for each of the previous six months. Bensenville developed a sophisticated community-wide Resident Needs Assessment to assist it in developing a strategic plan. The Village worked with the Institute of Cultural Affairs. The program called for three small group focus meetings with citizens throughout the village and a summary session with the Village Board, staff representatives and department heads. The Village Board learned that their long range plan for the community was very similar to the goals that the needs assessment participants established. JOINT PURCHASE/SERVICE AGREEMENTS Addison developed joint purchasing agreements between governmental bodies. These bodies included the village, school, library, fire protection districts, and township offices. Out of intergovernmental meetings the group decided to (a) formalized time lines for major purchases of goods and services; (b) acceptance of standardization of basic specifications; (c) recognitions that participation is voluntary for each good or service purchased; (d) review of contingencies pertaining to proprietary items; and (e) selection of "team leader" to coordinate any collective purchases. Savings realized by the Village alone has been over $229,000. Oak Park Council of Governments is a cooperative group consisting of the High School District, Grade School District, the Library, Township and Park Districts as well as the Village. A subcommittee of this group developed a joint purchasing program. The ultimate purpose of this program was to find ways to save taxpayers money by taking advantage of the economics of scale, by piggy backing purchases and activities and by tapping into the purchasing power of the larger organizations to which they all belonged. CONTRACTING OUT Clarendon Hills developed a unique program for providing paramedic services to residents in an efficient, effective and affordable manner. The Village of Clarendon Hills worked with its neighboring Village of Westmont, which has two ambulances, to develop a squad/paramedic response system for both Villages. Both municipalities contract with a private paramedic contractor and in combination with the Westmont ambulances provides services to both villages. Ambulances are rotated to provide coverage to both villages. The resource and cost sharing entered into by these two villages is an extension of the mutual aid philosophy and is achievable by many communities. CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT Burr Ridge has developed a Sergeant Seatbelt Occupant Protection Contest. This program features age appropriate instruction for school children in grades K-5. The Contest provides participants with an enjoyable exercise and learning experience where they are reminded of the importance of using seatbelts. The contest forms may be reproduced by any agency conducting the contest using their own equipment and materials, at a negligible expense, or they may be reproduced commercially. The Village of Burr Ridge received an award from the Illinois Department of Transportation for their implementation of this program. Hanover Park developed a Neighborhood Resource Center which is a community based social service center established to provide a bridge between the Hispanic population and the community. This joint Page 12 / Illinois Municipal Review / February 1993 community effort involved the Village, the United Way, and the U-46 School District. The group convinced the Association of Glendale Terrace Apartments to donate an apartment which was renovated by the Village Public Works Department. The new appearance was one of a classroom and a social service office. A storage facility below the Center was also remodeled and began serving as a food pantry and clothing closet. Services provided by this Center are: a food pantry and clothing closet, English as a Second Language Classes, A Women's Wellness Program, An Art Self-Esteem program for youth, and a Girl Scout Troop. This has become a highly visible, highly successful resource for the Hispanic community in Hanover-Park. Park Forest developed a unique Volunteer Recruitment Fair. As with many communities, Park Forest experienced a decrease in volunteerism and had difficulty finding interested and qualified volunteers to serve on boards and commissions. The Village organized a six week recruitment campaign, culminating in a "Volunteer Fair." The recruitment program consisted of articles in the Village's newsletter, news releases, messages on water bills, cable TV announcements, and letter to local businesses asking for their support and recommendations regarding the recruitment. Once the word was out about the need for volunteers, the applications started rolling in. The Village then brought this pool of volunteers together at a Volunteer Fair so they could get more information about specific boards and commissions, and select one for service. New commission slots were filled and sworn in at a regular meeting and honored at a reception. Park Forest developed a Mediation Task Force to help residents settle conflicts voluntarily by employing techniques of mediation and conciliation. Trained by the U.S. Department of Justice, Task Force members have a unique assignment: to assist community members in working out conflicts through peaceful means, as a preferable alternative to litigation, disruption, or other adversarial actions. Situations that once needed the involvement of police officers and other village officials now may be addressed by the community. HONORABLE MENTION There were several proposals received that did not attain awards but were given an Honorable Mention designation because of their value. These programs are summarized below: South Suburban Mayors and Managers developed a bond bank which provides low interest loans to local governments to fund various projects. Naperville bid its village bank services and received a guaranteed interest rate on its invested funds. Bensenville has implemented a community-wide automatic water meter reading system which utilizes phone lines to provide meter readings. It is estimated the Village will save $8 million over a twenty year period. Aurora used intergovernmental cooperation to construct an Aquatic Center. The Village and Park District worked together to build this state of the art $5 million facility. Lemont joined with six other southwest suburban Chicago communities to develop a joint health insurance consortium called the Southwest Agency for Health Management. Northwest Municipal Conference developed a joint purchasing program whereby municipalities could pool their resources and bid joint contracts for crack sealing and thermoplastic lance marking applications, both of which require specialized equipment. Peoria developed a three phase refuse collection bid process which secured more bidders and lower costs for its refuse services. For more information on these programs contact Urban Innovations of Illinois at the Illinois GFOA offices at 2321 Ridge Ave., Evanston, Illinois 60201. •
February 1993 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 13 |
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