In addition to offering hundreds of hours of educational programming both virtually and in-person, Local Government Academy provides technical assistance to local communities and organizations to further revitalization efforts. We work with a “boots on the ground” approach alongside municipalities to deliver technical assistance customized for local needs. Collaborating with our partners and funders, we recently identified unique needs within two historic Mon Valley communities that required very different approaches.

Working in one community, Local Government Academy brought in a finance consultant to complete a Community Financial Health Assessment, which examined financial management and internal controls to develop recommendations for cost containment and revenue enhancements.

The scope of work required an investigation of operational history, identification of trends, and benchmarking with comparable communities. The municipal leaders are committed to supporting implementation of the recommendations and have established a Finance Committee to carry-on project goals.

Our second municipality brought us just up the Monongahela River. Under the guidance of a municipal management expert, Local Government Academy completed a large-scale document management and retention project, leaving the community with an updated filing database to track and organize documents.

While it should come as no surprise that municipalities must follow legal protocols to maintain and dispose of documentation of governmental action, many have become overwhelmed by the sheer volume collecting over the years. In this case, the vast number of documents and files reflected the past glories of the once-thriving community, but which had accumulated to become a hindrance to effective governing. Now the municipal officials are positioned to respond efficiently to community questions and offer transparency to constituents.

If you represent a local government and are interested in learning more out our technical assistance services, please contact us at [email protected] for more information.