Thursday, November 11, 2004
By Dave Alexander
CHRONICLE BUSINESS EDITOR

Regional cooperation might be an idea whose time has arrived as municipal budget deficits grow in West Michigan and Muskegon County.

A year-end report from the five-year-old West Michigan Strategic Alliance outlined how the region is cooperating on six key fronts. But community leaders from Grand Rapids, Holland and Muskegon heard that more will be needed in the future.

State Sen. Patricia Birkholz, R-Saugatuck, addressed the region's government, business and institutional leaders Wednesday morning at the Trillium Conference Center in Spring Lake Township.

A key legislative leader in Michigan on issues of land use and Great Lakes policies, Birkholz reminded the regional audience that Washington, Lansing and even local city halls are unable to provide new funding. So it may be important for communities to "pool" resources and try things like bulk buying to save money.

"We need to be more collaborative ... we need to work together," Birkholz said of the current fiscal strain across all levels of government. "And I don't see a ground swell of support for new taxes."

Strategic Alliance Chairman Jim Brooks, a Holland businessman, echoed the state senator's remarks.

"We have stable if not shrinking resources and growing demands," Brooks said. "We have to do more with less."

At the local level in Muskegon, that may mean serious discussions on collaboration and consolidation, Muskegon Area First President Jim Edmonson said after the regional gathering. The Muskegon Areawide Plan that local units of government have been working on might become a foundation to foster cooperative efforts in Muskegon County, he said.

"Regionalism makes 'cents' -- that's with a 'C,' " said Edmonson, head of the local economic development agency. "Nationally, communities have seen this since the 1970s. Now it is time for West Michigan to look at it. To make sure that we are cost-effective is a point of view that we must have."

Look around Muskegon County and there is red ink flowing in all key local government budgets.

The county lost its Headlee Override vote last week and now will have to cut more than $1 million from its general fund budget. The city of Muskegon Heights continues to struggle with a budget deficit and will be raising taxes and further cutting services. The city of Norton Shores lost a charter revision that would have given its city council authority to raise property taxes, but now faces major budget cuts, while the city of Muskegon forestalled major cuts with a property tax increase this year.

Meanwhile, the Strategic Alliance -- a group of the region's leaders who feel there are critical issues facing West Michigan that can't be solved by any one community, but must be addressed by all -- has grown geographically in the past year.

The alliance now includes the core counties of Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon and Allegan and has expanded to Newaygo, Berry and Ionia. The new larger region corresponds with federal designations that look at commuting patterns to show the interdependence of communities from Hastings to Fremont and Allegan.

© 2004 Muskegon Chronicle. Used with permission