Resumen de Professional Management and Service Levels in Small U.S. Communities

David H. Folz, Reem Abdelrazek

• Based on a national survey of small U.S. cities between 5,000 and 25,000 in size, this study classifies the level of municipal services provided by small communities and examines the community and governmental features that are related to those cities that provide higher levels of urban services. The study finds that after controlling for differences in population size, wealth, education, and metro status, those small cities that have a professional city manager and an adaptive or administrative type of local government structure are somewhat more likely to provide qualitatively higher levels of municipal services, suggesting that professional managers play an important role in advancing the level of service provided in the communities they serve.