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Tying a Sensible Knot: A Practical Guide to State-Local Information Systems

Abstract

Acknowledgments

Executive Summary

Chapter 1. Understanding the State-Local Environment

Chapter 2. Principles for Working in the State-Local Environment

Chapter 3. Best Practices

Appendices
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Chapter 3. Best Practices

Finance creatively

The traditional ways to finance government information systems initiatives, prevalent in the 1970s and 80s, consisted of two main types: (1) direct appropriations from state legislatures that were used to cover both state and local costs or (2) federal funding that usually matched state funds by a formula. Some critical systems projects financed partly by the federal government benefited from "enhanced" federal funding - sometimes as much as 90 percent - as long as states abided by certain schedules and other rules. While these methods are still in use today, it is much more likely that a state-local information system effort will be financed by a "package" of resources that comprises some combination of cash appropriations, some grant funds (either federal or foundation), some "in-kind" resources (public and private), and a lot of redeployed human effort.

Since these resources go well beyond the usual budget categories that finance and budget office staff are familiar with, the project manager or the senior members of the project management team are often responsible for putting this package together. Creative financing entails not only the usual budget management skills, but the ability to convince others to contribute resources, the ability to identify grant opportunities and write successful grant applications, and the ability to recognize and balance the constraints and rules that multiple funding sources can impose on a project plan. Since the full project budget may not come from a dedicated new fund, it is more important than ever that the source and amount of available resources be well understood and carefully managed. Creative financing also means carefully thought out investment of the resources available. Think about ways to cover actual expenses that also "leverage" other resources.


Probation Automation: A little bit means a lot

Seven county Probation Directors are members of the design team for the Probation Automation project. Each is strongly committed to the goals of the project and willing to absorb the work it takes to be fully involved in every phase of the project. However, these local officials have great difficulty finding money in local budgets to pay the expenses of traveling to Albany or other local sites to attend planning sessions, or conduct process reviews. The design phase of this project is supported by a limited amount of federal funds. One of the ways these funds are used, is to pay the travel expenses that allow the County Directors to participate in all these activities. It makes sense to use project funds to cover these travel expenses (which are often small) because these expenditures leverage much more valuable and expensive resources represented by the time and expertise of the County Directors themselves.

In addition, a number of state staff in both the Division of Criminal Justice Services and the Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives are participating in this project. Most of them are also assigned to other activities and divide their time and attention between those responsibilities and the Probation project. DCJS decided, however, that the project director should be devoted to the project 100% and not be diverted by other competing demands. As a result, he is able to focus full time on the needs of this project, organizing the work in such a way that the part-time involvement of all the others generates maximum value for the project as a whole.


Aging Services System: A financial fabric of many threads

The Aging Services community deals primarily in discretionary relationships. There is no mandate that aging services be provided. They operate through resources that are annually appropriated to support aging network activities. To use their words, "we live by faith." This is possibly one reason why the community has developed a keen appreciation for the value and necessity of building effective partnerships and identifying and securing multiple sources of funding.

Garnering financial support and building partnerships with a broad range of public and private sector participants has allowed the State Office for the Aging (SOFA) to move forward in its efforts to integrate and enhance service delivery to elderly New Yorkers. Several streams of funding support this highly interdependent effort. A grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce is supporting the implementation of Internet connectivity for New York’s 59 Area Agencies on Aging (AAA). Together with matching funds and private sector contributions, this grant provides for remote connectivity to local client databases. A partnership with New York City and a number of private vendors in the development of a pilot system has allowed SOFA and the AAAs to move forward despite limited staff and funding.

In an effort to attract partners from the private sector to participate in the project SOFA advertised the project on its World Wide Web page. As a result, both NYNEX and Cabletron provided services and materials. SOFA sees building partnerships with public and private sector organizations as an ongoing effort. Maintaining current partnerships and building new ones helps this project team stretch the value of the "hard" dollar investments being made by the state, local, and non-profit agencies.


Electronic Voter Registration: Financing from the ground up
Electronic Voter Registration in New York State has been a grass roots project with local officials taking the lead to implement a new process to expand voter registration, provide more accurate and timely data, give faster service, and expand the time period during which Election Boards register voters. This is not a mandated program. Neither is it an optional state-sponsored program that the state tried to sell to localities. It is a voluntary effort among the participants, led by local government sponsors.

The Monroe County Board of Elections was the sponsor of a grant proposal for staffing and consultant services that was funded through the New York State Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund administered by the State Archives and Records Administration (SARA). Total state funding for the project was $180,000. The staff position was located at the New York State Forum for Information Resources Management, an agency-supported organization associated with the State University devoted to effective use of information technology in state and local government. The Forum also contributed additional professional and administrative time to the project and managed a consultant contract. All local staff worked on a volunteer arrangement, as did state staff from the Departments of Health and Motor Vehicles. Together, the paid staff and volunteers managed an effort under the aegis of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to define the electronic data inter- change transaction set for voter registration that is now the standard for the nation and is currently being adopted throughout New York State.

"Projects are usually financed through an informal package of resources including appropriations, grants, and in-kind contributions."