June 29th, 2009 Stevens Point, <

Gary W. Becker and Jerry Wehrle attended a Summit sponsored by the Northeast-Midwest Institute and the Brookings Institution in Washington DC on February 11-12, 2009.  The focus of the Summit was on revitalizing older cities.  There was discussion of strategies, funding and legislation that local governments can use to help revitalize older industrial cities in northeast and midwest states.  Wisconsin has a number of older industrial cities facing revitalization challenges.
 
Becker and Wehrle also met with Senator Herb Kohl, Senator Russ Feingold and Rep. Ron Kind to discuss the work of the Local Government Institute and issues facing local government in Wisconsin.
 

Wisconsin has four of the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas—Milwaukee, Madison, Chicago, and Minneapolis—which alone account for 42 percent of the state’s population, 46 percent of the state’s jobs, and 50 percent of the state’s gross domestic product (GDP).
All 15 of Wisconsin’s metros constitute 72 percent of the state’s population, 77 percent of the state’s jobs, and 80 percent of the state’s GDP.

Renewable Energy Summit

Many factors affecting the cost of government are outside the control of administrators and elected officials.  Enery usage, however, is one area where cost savings are within the control of managers.
 
The Local Government Institute is working with the Office of Energy Independence (OEI), U.W. Extension, and the Energy Center of Wisconsin to understand ways local government can better plan how energy is used.  In January 2009, OEI awarded 10 grants to 23 units of government to prepare energy plans to guide each of the local government units achieve energy independence goals.
 

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Best Practices in Local Government: Efficiency, Service Delivery and Regional Collaboration
Local governments across Wisconsin have been innovators in finding ways to improve administrative efficiency, reduce costs while improving service quality and working together with other governmental units within a region.  We are using this page to collect examples of some of the best practices in Wisconsin.
 

Local governments - cities, villages, towns and counties - are involved in economic development for two primary reasons -

1. Public health, safety and welfare is greatly enhanced when citizens have access to well paying jobs; and
2. Economic growth provides a source of revenue for local government that can be used to spread the tax burden across a larger base and ensure investment in and provision of quality public services that are the foundation for regional economic health.

 
Links to other local government information - Wisconsin and U.S.