More municipal governments outsourcing services

Private companies being hired to do building inspections, code enforcements.

By Patrick Lester and Scott Kraus | Of The Morning Call

Shawn McGlynn of Keystone Cement Services, right, heads up to a new home with job supervisor Rich Elliott at Pennland Farm in Bedminster Township. Keystone is one of many companies being hired by municipalities to provide services such as code enforcement. (Catherine Meredith/The Morning Call / March 9, 2008)

In Bedminster Township, where officials are known to boast about offering services with a personal touch, the community always used to rely on one of its own to inspect buildings and enforce zoning rules.

But as the northern Bucks County farming community became less rural and more developed, township supervisors noticed a trend they couldn't ignore.

"We found that local residents don't stand up well under pressure," Supervisor Eric Schaffhausen said. "Nobody wants their neighbor to say they're in violation of a zoning law."

So the Board of Supervisors in 2002 decided to outsource the work to Delaware County-based Keystone Municipal Services.

Bedminster is among a growing number of local governments contracting with private companies for building inspection, code enforcement and other services that have become more complicated, specialized and labor intensive.

"Often times, these [enforcement officers] are bad-news bearers," Schaffhausen said. "I'm very big on constituent service and this has to be done very professionally. [Keystone employees] are trained to do it professionally and not be emotional about it."

Courtney Accurti, a spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs, said the use of private-code enforcement companies has become more common, partly because of a new statewide building code that went into effect in 2004.

The code covers all new construction and building additions and remodeling projects. Municipal governments, following the code's approval, had the option of administering the code themselves, joining a regional council of goverments or opting out, allowing the state and third-party inspectors to do the work.

"In the past, building inspectors had kind of come up through the ranks of contractors," said Dan Olpere, borough manager for Perkasie. Now, inspectors must be trained and certified in the universal construction code, he said, something many municipalities can't do on their own.

As a result, large firms have sprung up with dozens or hundreds of building inspectors to whom they can provide in-house certification training.

Keystone serves about 30 municipalities and is continuing to grow, said Shawn McGlynn, the company's regional coordinator in northern Bucks County. McGlynn said the company is looking to move into the Lehigh Valley and has already bid for work in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

"We think it provides a better level of service," McGlynn said. "It keeps costs down for communities that are not paying the overhead of a full-time employee. And there's a real shortage of certified inspectors."

Outsourcing is not always cheaper than in-house work. Other factors, including the availability of professionals and their skill levels, also are considerations in going with outsourced services. Bedminster, a town of about 8,000, pays Keystone about $85 per hour. Keystone has a person working in the township almost every day, but not for a full work day.

Township Manager Peter Braun said it may cost more for the township to hire its own employees to provide the electrical, plumbing, building and zoning inspection services Keystone gives.

Before Bedminster hired Keystone, the township used two part-time employees who might do inspections only a few days a week. Today, the township may have to hire multiple people for various types of inspections, Braun said.

"The benefit of Keystone is they do all of those things," Braun said. "I think to get both the quality and timeliness of that service (by having in-house employees) would cost more."

For years, Pennsylvania counties have contracted a wide range of services, said Doug Hill, executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.

Legal services, engineering and, in particular, human services contracts, make up some of the most common services that counties have farmed out for years, Hill said. Counties direct millions of dollars a year to firms that provide mental health, counseling and drug and alcohol treatment services, for example, he said.

Nursing homes present many counties with a difficult choice about contract costs.

"You have a choice of either contracting out the entire management of the home, or a firm that has employees who staff the thing," Hill said. "Or you contract out all the subset of services: physical care, pharmacy, food services, therapy."