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Municipal
Enterprise
While
many municipalities in recent years have privatized some city
services and functions of government, many others have established
city-owned/operated, profit-making ventures in an effort to
generate additional revenues. Estimates are that between 5-7
percent of a typical local government's revenues—upwards
of $30 billion nationally—are generated through some sort
of municipal enterprise. The trend toward municipal enterprise
appears to be escalating as cities small and large, liberal
and conservative increasingly recognize the significant benefits
linked with these profitable endeavors: (1) increased responsiveness
to community needs and interests; (2) enhanced local stability
by anchoring public assets within the community; (3) local
job creation; (4) local dollars re-circulated within the community;
(5) enhanced community participation and involvement; (6)
strengthened citizen pride in their community.
Among the
most promising and extensive sectors of municipal enterprise
are:
- utilities
- telecommunications
- recreational
enterprise
- commercial/retail
businesses
- environmentally-oriented
enterprise
- land
development (including transportation development) to generate
economic and community-oriented benefits
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