Using Administrative Data to Better Understand the Reliability of ICMA’s Alternative Service Delivery Survey

The International City/County Management Association’s Alternative Service Delivery (ASD) Survey has been highly influential in the study of make-or-buy and sector choice decisions at the local level. Recently, the reliability of the ASD has been called into question. This paper builds on Lamothe, Lamothe, and Bell’s findings of inconsistencies in these data by comparing 2007 ASD survey results with those found in 2007–2008 administrative data from California. The findings lend further credence to the idea that ASD data should be used with caution and an understanding of its limits and weaknesses, as well as the need to collect more reliable data on local service delivery decisions.