Reason.tv Replay: Sandy Springs, Georgia - The City that Outsourced Everything

Original release date: April 12, 2011

While cities across the country are cutting services, raising taxes and contemplating bankruptcy, something extraordinary is happening in a suburban community just north of Atlanta, Georgia.

Since incorporating in 2005, Sandy Springs has improved its services, invested tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure and kept taxes flat. And get this: Sandy Springs has no long-term liabilities.

This is the story of Sandy Springs, Georgia—the city that outsourced everything.

Approximately 8 minutes.

Produced by Paul Feine and Alex Manning.

Go to reason.tv for downloadable versions of this video and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube channel to receive automatic notification when new material is released.

Comments

[omg]

I assume the survivors envy the dead they see littering the blasted craters that were once called "roads".

[Transtar]

Actually, you have to weave around all the construction equipment that are on the roads there. There are at least 3 major intersection improvements that I can think of off the top of my head. The projects are dealing with major thru-ways, where a good amount of traffic passes through the town (if 400 is backed [every day] up many people that live in Roswell/East Marietta take the surface streets to bypass the traffic).

[Gregory Smith]

And where is that city located? GEORGIA! That's right, it's in THE SOUTH, the old CSA the Yankee liberals hate so much.

DOGBESITY: THE NEW WAR AGAINST FAT PETS IS HERE.
http://libertarians4freedom.bl.....-dogs.html

[Danny]

Take it easy, Colonel.

[MNG]

His dog told him Obama was evil.

[Episiarch]

GREGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Warty]

DOGBAMAIST THATS WHAT I CALL DOGS THAT ARE OBAMA AND ARE SOCIALSITS

[zoltan]

Georgia, where the police roll tanks down the street to demonstrate their military might.

[mad libertarian guy]

Don't forget Arizona and Michigan.

[Danny]

Cool.

[Ben Kennedy]

I'm not sure what this story proves. Sure, they got a quality of life upgrade. Was it because they started outsourcing, or was it because they were not getting taxed by a neighboring city and were able to spend more on themselves?

[Free2Booze]

They have a quality of life upgrade, because the services Sandy Springs offers through public-private partnerships, are more cost efficient than if the city provided these services directly.

[zoltan]

PPPs (public-private partnerships) are terrible ideas. They privatize profits and socialize losses. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are PPPs. The Texas legislature is currently trying to make almost all public facilities, like hospitals, libraries, roads, etc. into PPPs. I would prefer simply selling these facilities to private companies and cutting a check to everyone who paid taxes for them. None of the money from that sale should go to the government.

[Free2Booze]

I think the terms of the partnership, and the scale are important factors to consider.

I share your sentiment that most of the services "provided" by local government, can be handled privately, and with out local government serving as the middle man. That said, I doubt that their are enough residents in my community who feel the same way, so it ain't gonna happen.

If my only two options are A) government provided services, or B)government contracted services, I think option B looks a hell of a lot more attractive.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Huge difference between outsourcing services to private contractors, and setting up psuedo-governmental entities which enjoy "protection" from the DC mafia.

[Old Mexican]

I'm still waiting for the corpses of children to show up spilled over the streets. And wailing women asking for alms...

[Free2Booze]

Sandy Springs contracted with a company to collect child corpses. They are very effective, and rarely allow more than one dead child to pile up at any given time. The residents give the service very high marks.

[Auric Demonocles]

Bring out yer dead!

[Warty]

Everyone's God and if we don't wake up to that there's going to be no weather because our polar caps are melting because we're doing bad things to the atmosphere.

[Sharon Tate]

Fork You!

[rac]

Warty's just making it witchy is all.

[Paul]

The infamous killer, who started championing environmental causes from behind bars, bemoaned the 'bad things' being done to environment in a rambling phone interview from his Californian jail cell.

Environmentalism is a crazy magnet.

[CT Togar]

They've continued to tweak this model. CH2MHill is being cut back, some services sent to other companies, some brought in-house. Still a private-public hybrid: http://www.ajc.com/news/north-.....03431.html

[Free2Booze]

More quality reporting by the AJC. The article mentions the city staffing some departments themselves, then fails to mention which departments are up for consideration.

The only change I can see, is that the city will contract services directly, instead of working through middle man.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I had sandy springs once. I had to replace my filter every other day until I just gave up and sank a new well.

[kinnath]

The primary pupose of the legal system (including the tax system) is to keep lawyers fully employed. The do, of course, throw a few bones to the certified public accounts with the tax code.

[kinnath]

Wrong Fucking thread

[AlmightyJB]

So the question is: What about the major Metro Atlanta area? The people with the money in the suburbs, who clearly benefit from their proximity to a major city and may well owe much of their wealth to jobs in Atlanta, keep all of their tax revenue local. How does the metro area pay for it's services and infrastructure, when the people who work and thrive downtown, take all of their money out of downtown. If the city tries to tax the companies there, then the companies will just go somewhere else and find a better deal. Maybe the time of the large city is over? Maybe those issues are too big to overcome and the current metropolitan setup is unsustainable. I'm not necessarily saying thats a bad thing, but I do think those are questions that need addressed. It's in everyone theres best interest to do so. it's certainly not going to be good for Sandy Springs if Atlanta turns into Detroit. Obviously there is a lot of ways Atlanta could be more efficient with the money they do get, but is that going to be enough? I'd be interested to find out more about those dynamics as they effect the larger picture.

[Galt]

If a city doesn't compete, it fails.

[mad libertarian guy]

No Somalia yet?