Is the shared services task force created by Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee a bold enough move to solve the municipal finance crisis?

By PBN Staff
Twitter: @ProvBusNews

In creating a task force to facilitate sharing services among Central Falls, East Providence and Pawtucket, Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee said that he hoped the five-member group would “lay the groundwork for interactions between municipalities to help them achieve significant efficiencies and savings.”

As the state continues to experience fiscal challenges, it is unlikely that aid to municipalities is going to increase in the near future, meaning that cities and towns will have to find solutions to their own fiscal issues.

Is the scope of the governor’s panel large enough to generate ideas that can have a lasting impact on the crisis among the state’s cities and towns?