Pennsylvania's leaders should take seriously three independent reports whose findings indicate that the commonwealth's economic growth and quality of life are being undermined by outdated laws governing how municipalities function.

The reports, by the Pennsylvania Economy League, Penn State University and the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution, provide excellent fodder for the General Assembly and Rendell administration to establish a mechanism for further study and future legislation geared toward addressing those issues.

Part of that further study should be direct contacts with municipal leaders across the state to obtain input on what they feel are the problems and the potential solutions to the challenges they face.

This would be a process that could take a year or more but it would be time well spent. And, from the start, it must be understood that the study could not be approached superficially. Unfortunately, some regulations with which municipalities are required to comply do not take into account day-to-day challenges and limitations under which those municipalities exist.

According to the Pennsylvania Economy League study, half of all residents of Pennsylvania live in municipalities where taxes are rising, available services are dwindling and the population is moving away.

"The resources aren't really shared across the region or the broader community as much as they are isolated to the municipal boxes within which we live," said LeeAnne Clayberger, an economy league spokeswoman.

A 33-year analysis of municipal revenue by the league for the period ending in 2003 found urban, suburban and rural communities across the state grappling with a decline in their financial well-being.

The studies said that situation could improve if there were more options for regionalized services.

While municipal consolidations could achieve that result, the studies weren't built upon that potentially controversial recommendation. However, the state needs to find ways to guide municipalities on how to enjoy the benefits of regionalization while keeping their autonomy — since opposition to consolidation is deep-rooted throughout the state.

The Brookings study credits Gov. Ed Rendell with making strides in the right direction, but the study nevertheless makes the troubling observation that the commonwealth still is struggling with slow population growth, anemic economic development and loss of high-quality jobs.

Penn State's study, which focused primarily on the state's rural communities, confirmed that their leaders are struggling with the same problems as were highlighted in the other two studies.

All three reports found fault with property taxes because of their inability to grow proportionally with the costs of operating governments.

It would do well for Pennsylvania to authorize a constitutional convention to effect major reforms in the state government. At the same time, the state needs to give more power to municipalities to take charge of the way they operate.

Thanks to the voter anger displayed last year, state government reform is the talk of Harrisburg.

How much reform actually might lie ahead under the existing constitution remains to be seen. But that state-level reform movement shouldn't thrust the opportunity for municipal changes into the background.

All state officials should study the three new reports and consider how they can become a basis for improving the way local governments serve their residents.