Idea #346 – Get More Collins Center Help

Report Status: Fully Reviewed

Researched by: Paul Rickter

Idea Text

Go back to the Collins center for more help

Other ideas included in this report

  • 169 – Community Compact for Collins Center assistance

Idea intent

The intent of the idea appears to be that the town would benefit from further resources provided by the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass-Boston. Belmont has previously received assistance in financial modeling from the Collins Center.

Weighted Final Score: 57 (Financial Impact: 2, Operational Impact: 4, Time Scale: 4, Ease of Implementation: 5)

Background Information

The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at University of Massachusetts Boston (https://www.umb.edu/cpm) was created in 2008 to provide resources for state and local government in Massachusetts. The Collins Center "is dedicated to improving efficiency, effectiveness, governance, and accountability at all levels of government."

The Baker administration has created a Best Practices Program (https://www.mass.gov/best-practices-program), in which the commonwealth signs an agreement with a municipality, in the form of a Community Compact. By signing the Community Compact, a municipality commits to implement at least one best practice to improve governance. Belmont signed its Community Compact in 2018.

By signing the Community Compact, Belmont has been able to access grant funding for Collins Center resources. Previously, as documented in Idea #169, the Belmont Financial Task Force II has made extensive use of the resources of the Collins Center, including consultation and development of a detailed financial planning model for Belmont. Further resources are available for use by Belmont leaders.

Recommendations

  • Because of the Community Compact, Belmont remains eligible for grant-funded resources from the Collins Center. Belmont leadership is using these resources and this should continue based on needs/priorities versus available Collins Center resources.

  • In coming years, areas that might be addressed with help from the Collins Center include how to do priority-based budgeting and how best to manage the capital budget process

Further Reading