Extreme privatization: A performance analysis of the Sandy Springs model

This paper examines the Sandy Springs-model, which is characterized by outsourcing the vast majority of municipal government services to the private sector. Privatization and outsourcing are widely seen as a way to deliver government services more effectively and efficiently, but few governments have privatized to the extent that Sandy Springs, Georgia, has done so. A performance analysis was conducted with Sandy Springs against neighboring municipal governments in northern Fulton County. The analysis compared expenditure per capita figures against the corresponding government output with an assigned points system for fiscal years 2008 through 2012. The analysis found that Sandy Springs does not have the most efficient or effective government in the sample, and was below average across the board. Further, cities that turned from a private sector-model to a more traditional model of service delivery found efficiency and performance gains