Source: Telegraph Herald (IA), Sunday, November 30, 2008

For city governments across the nation, the holiday season is a time when the not-so-merry task of finalizing budgets for the upcoming year are hammered out, spliced together and prepared for public display.

….. One way municipalities seek cost-effectiveness and efficiency is by outscourcing services. Privatization ranges from the limited to all-encompassing, like Sandy Springs, Ga.,which outsources the entire operations of the city to a private company. Two of Dubuque’s most prominent examples are Five Flags Center and Grand River Center. Both high-profile enterprises are managed for the city by private companies, but there are dozens of other lesser-known contracts — from collecting delinquent utility bills to concessions at Flora and Sutton pools to library book repair.

Related article from the Associated Press: Other cities have mixed results in privatization