By: Gabriel Kahan, Julia Wright, Holly West, and Quincy Midthun • ProGov21
Recent legislation under the Biden administration to hasten a green transition and revitalize American infrastructure is ambitious in scale. Billions are now available for local officials to retrofit buildings, improve transportation, and expand community services for climate-related resilience.
Yet it is important to recognize the constellation of agencies, public officials, support staff, community partnerships, and other institutional backing necessary for putting federal dollars to use. Each municipality has a unique set of goals and constraints, and for even the most industrious city officials, a lack of administrative capacity threatens their ability to access funding opportunities. For this reason, it is crucial small and mid-size cities strengthen their ability to take full advantage of this landmark funding.
Municipal Administrative Capacity
Recent studies suggest that administrative capacity is a key bottleneck for municipalities, who face hard fiscal constraints, technical know-how, and proper staffing. According to a 2022 survey of 440 US municipalities, only 42% had ever applied for a competitive grant and only 8% had drawn on intergovernmental transfers for projects related to sustainability. Or consider the Rural Capacity Map, assembled by the nonpartisan research outfit Headwaters Economics, which estimates that nearly 70% of Midwestern counties, 60% of Gulf Coast counties, and 56% Western counties in the US demonstrate “low capacity” (see Figure 1 and Figure 2).
Figure 1. 2023 US regions scoring below the national median in the Rural Capacity Index, by sub-region. For information on data and methods, see Headwaters Economics.
Mainstream media is abuzz with articles celebrating the wins of municipalities taking advantage of the IRA, and with good reason. Despite this, the hard data above complicates the story: while such case studies hold tremendous value for learning what forms of public initiative have the highest chance of success, there is difficulty in comparing smaller municipalities to global cities like New York or Seattle — with their far larger balance sheets and staffing. Faced with the challenge of limited capacity, “ordinary” small- to medium-sized cities are learning to draw on a distinct administrative toolkit.
Figure 2. Headwaters Economics Rural Capacity Map, visualized by county subdivision.
Municipal Networks and Planning
These smaller municipalities have built capacity by crafting peer networks, which allow for community-driven knowledge sharing and accountability. Moreover, these networks help facilitate study visits, a process in which one city will visit another to exchange insights on policies like climate change adaptation.
Cross-departmental planning is another strategy boosting municipal capacity. This is in part because the administrative structure of local governments and the complexity of climate issues can quickly decentralize city sustainability efforts, with broad participation from a multitude of units leading to unclear roles and decreased responsibility. The presence of identifiable leadership, such as sustainability action plans or appointed standing committees, can work to combat this by improving connectivity between units, setting clear goals, and establishing performance metrics.
Regional Learning
Sometimes cities need not go to great lengths to build capacity. Municipalities in the same areas often hold the same legislative structures and face the same preemptive state laws while accessing federal funding, making them ideal candidates for collaboration.
For example, in December of 2023, Ohio implemented EV charging infrastructure funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. However, the stations did not reach municipalities in Southern Ohio, many of which lacked the grant writing assistance needed to access additional support. To address this gap, Athens, OH formed a regional partnership with 19 other communities to provide additional EV charging stations — accessing $27.5 million in federal dollars.
Network-Builders and Aggregators
Many advocacy organizations also exist to support municipalities facing capacity constraints. The Local Infrastructure Hub, for instance, connects local governments with federal infrastructure funding opportunities to drive local progress. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Network offers capacity-building technical assistance through guides, webinars, and one-on-one support for low-income communities and under-resourced agencies.
However, for those looking to move beyond piecemeal solutions and receive the dual benefits of network-based learning backed by evidence-based solutions, the Mayors Innovation Project (MIP) and ProGov21 work in tandem to accelerate municipal success. On one hand, MIP serves as a premier learning network. By connecting mayors and facilitating discussion on key policy issues, they cultivate the peer relationships needed to pursue many of the strategies above. On the other hand, ProGov21 operates as a fully searchable policy library designed especially for local officials. Whether it be model ordinances, policy briefs, ballot measures, case studies, fact sheets, or roadmaps, it exists to provide cutting-edge recommendations for progressive governance — including capacity building. As two projects of the High Road Strategy Center, MIP and ProGov21 work together to offer comprehensive city-level assistance. In an era of historic federal funding, its resources like these that will allow low-capacity municipalities to punch above their weight.
Photo by Peggy Paulson on Unsplash.