It’s a story that seems to be playing out again and again. When cities face tremendous deficits, drastic cuts come to mind. But in places like Half Moon Bay, these cuts don’t mean services will disappear, instead they’ll be outsourced to neighboring cities and to the county itself. In Half Moon Bay, for instance, they are seeking to outsource their police force to the county.

If this trend continues, it could redefine how we have grown to define our cities and counties. The blurred lines will lead to a new form of city-county governance.

From Fox News:

With dozens of local governments throughout California facing deep, deep, deficits, some experts predict that eventually, cities as we know them could cease to exist. One town that could change the way it operates is Half Moon Bay, just down the coast from San Francisco. Despite its world class waves and charming downtown, Half Moon Bay is sinking in debt, and like many other cities in Northern California, is planning to reduce its biggest expenditure by out-sourcing its police department to the county.

“I think all cities are going to have to look at new models of service delivery. We’re going to have to pay for the services we all enjoy,” say Mayor Marina Fraser.

Futurist Paul Saffo, a managing director with Discern, says the new reality could amount to a game-changer for cities. “One of the problems, particularly here in California, is people don’t want new taxes, and they don’t want big government, but they still want all of their government services,” he says. “Something has got to give.”

Read the full article here.