Looking Toward the Future
The North Hills Council of
Governments (NHCOG)is a voluntary coalition of twenty municipalities,
in both Allegheny and Butler Counties, which comprises a total
population of 225,000 persons and a land area of 220square miles. The
organization was initiated as a result of the Pennsylvania
Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1972, and is a non-profit
corporation under the laws of the state of Pennsylvania.
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The annual operating income of the NHCOG is derived from the voluntary
payment of annual dues, administrative fees related to implementing State
and Federal grants on the behalf of our municipal members, and certain
service fees for use of equipment and/or administrative services specific to
a line-item project budget. The COG often seeks to form partnerships,
coalitions and cooperation agreements with other levels of government and
other pre-existing non-profits in order to accomplish shared goals and objectives.
Some of the primary activities of the COG include, but are not limited to
the following joint bidding and purchasing, grant administration, and
devising methods to ensure that our municipal members remain in compliance with
State and Federal mandates which apply to local government. The COG acts as
a mutual forum to discuss and bring into focus regional challenges and
opportunities, collect and maintain data of a regional interest, strive to
improve communication, coordination and intergovernmental cooperation
between all levels of government, facilitate cooperative agreements, seek
technical assistance, and to coordinate Federal, State and Local programs of
regional importance.
The COG Executive Board,is the internal governing that collectively sets
policy and approves the annual budget. This board is composed of one elected
official delegate representing each member municipality and or alternate delegate.
This body meets monthly in order to take new business items under discussion
and to take action as needed and recommended by the COG Executive Director.
The Managers Advisory Committee is composed of the municipal manager or,
absent a manager, a proxy appointed official designated by the manager,from each
member municipality. It is the general charge of this Advisory Board to work closely
with the COG Executive Director to identify and develop new projects and programs
and to oversee and fine-tune existing projects and programs in order to benefit the
collective membership and to create a cost savings in the delivery of municipal
services and/or increased efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of those
services to the residents of the COG municipalities. In short:to create"economies-
of-scale" and to avoid "reinventing the wheel" in order to make local government
more efficient, effective, and streamlined.
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