A recent Providence Journal article on consolidation of city and town services cited a number of findings from RIPEC’s December 2022 report on municipal services, including that consolidation of services can achieve “economies of scale” for governments serving fewer than 40,000 residents. Interviewed for the article, Michael DiBiase pointed out that school districts that consolidate probably would need the same number of teachers, but perhaps not as many specialists and administrators, and that merged fire departments probably won’t have fewer firefighters but could save money by sharing equipment.