New Plans for New Government

Cuyahoga County's first executive, who takes office in January as part of the county's shift to an executive-style government, said last week he hopes to launch a regional service-sharing agreement for the county's local governments.

In a speech at the Cuyahoga County Mayors and City Managers Association last week, incoming County Executive Ed Fitzgerald asked local leaders to assess their services and identify some that they could turn over to a regional service provider, local reports said.

Driving the effort are looming cuts in state revenue aid. The Ohio General Assembly is widely expected to cut back in aid to local governments next year as they tackle an $8 billion deficit in the upcoming two-year budget.

Cuyahoga voters in November 2009 approved a measure that calls for the current three-commissioner system to be replaced with a new charter government run by an elected executive and an 11-member council.

Cuyahoga is Ohio's wealthiest and most populous county, and includes Cleveland. It has $152 million of general obligation debt and $93 million of non-tax revenue debt outstanding.

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