Built-in impediments can make sharing difficult for governments, many of which -- especially regional local governments -- have similar needs. Political, legal and personal barriers tend to block progress toward joint technology solutions.

Considering that the goal of local elected officials is to serve their own constituents, it's easy to see why governments often have trouble sharing IT resources with other jurisdictions. Serving needs of nonresidents seemingly contradicts their goal.

There is also great risk in committing to a partnership, a risk that is multiplied when dealing with governing bodies. Many agencies simply do not want to risk their futures on the promises of others.

In small numbers, however, government coalitions are forming and demonstrating that shared applications can work exceptionally well. These alliances also represent traditional American ideals, such as lower cost and ingenuity.

Several forces are pushing governments toward a shared application model. The need to meet new service demands is of highest priority. Replacing aging infrastructure, reducing expenses and delivering better capabilities are other leading motivators. Just as significant, shared IT applications also tend to improve relations among independent government organizations, perhaps strengthening cooperation in other areas.


Tar Heels Sticking Together
One North Carolina county's endeavor to build its own property tax application led to a surprisingly rare partnership. What began as a single county project evolved into a six-county shared application model. While the software isn't revolutionary, the success of an actual shared application may be.

In the late 1990s, as older methods of collecting taxes were becoming incompatible with modern demand, Wake County, N.C., embarked on a voyage. As a singular entity, the county decided it needed a property tax system that would properly benefit county coffers and improve county services.

At the time, there weren't many options. In the past, Wake County had taken the bold step of seeking other local governments to collaborate on a joint property tax application, but no one wanted to take on the initial risk. Wake County officials then scoured the marketplace for an integrated tax system that included computer-aided mass appraisals, real-estate records, property tax listings, billings and collections. After an exhaustive search, they were unable to find any that would meet their needs.

"At that point, Wake County started building a software solution themselves," said Rebecca Troutman, director of Research and Public Technology at the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC), an organization that facilitates county government collaboration. "They contracted with a local development company, Intelligent Information Systems [IIS], to help the county build the system."

As the software was developed, county officials met with the NCACC to discuss the charitable notion of opening the software to all local governments in the state. As the second largest county in North Carolina, Wake County had development resources other counties didn't, so it was decided that Wake County and the NCACC would begin forming an open and voluntary collaboration. Other counties chose whether they wanted to be involved.

Lee Mandell is director of Information Technology and Research for the North Carolina League of Municipalities (NCLM), a close working partner of the NCACC. He said that building the software first made the idea of a shared application much more welcoming.

"All the other projects I know about started with a blank piece of paper," he said. "Somebody said, 'We need a local government accounting system, and since we all run under the same accounting rules, it should be easy to put together.' But they started with a blank slate and tried to build from there. The difference here is Wake County decided it needed a new tax application, and in the process of building it for itself, decided it wanted to open it to all local governments in North Carolina. So