"Editor's note: This is the second of two articles on municipal collaboration in Pennsylvania."

"County government is constrained in what services it delivers, creating an inefficient and often counter-productive situation for taxpayers receiving services from local governments acting separately. For example:

Counties provide little in the way of traditional public safety services such as police and fire protection, but they do assume responsibility for such activities as 911 operations, terrorism preparedness, incident information systems and coordination with federal public safety agencies.

In the area of public works, counties typically conduct such activities as bridge inspections, vehicle inspection services, and some road maintenance and repair; but in general they perform little on-the-ground construction work.

Some counties play an important role in library operations and in parks and recreation, which are generally experienced by taxpayers as part of their municipality." For the complete York Daily Record article, please click here.