Cities ranked by level of government efficiency
Cities run by city managers are 50 percent more likely to be efficient in the delivery of public services than are cities run by elected mayors. That is the conclusion of a first-of-its-kind study conducted by the Reason Public Policy Institute, a pro-privatization public policy think tank headquartered in Los Angeles.
The study examines the delivery of 11 public services in America’s 44 largest cities. Called the “Competitive Cities Report Card,” the study was prepared to help citizens and local government officials determine how much money and worker time are required to provide various public services like police protection, trash collection and street maintenance.
Overall, Phoenix was the most efficient city. In order, the top 10 were Phoenix, El Paso, Texas; Tulsa, Okla.; Memphis, Tenn.; Nashville, Tenn.; San Diego; Dallas; Virginia Beach, Va.; Indianapolis and San Antonio, Texas. Los Angeles was found to be the least efficient.
For more information, see www.rppi.org/compcity/.