The Impact Local Government Consoldaton has on Communty Goals: Experences n Other Regons Prepared by Erc Persons for the Onondaga Ctzens League Study Commttee Aprl 2005 Summary: Ths document hghlghts the achevements, falures and polcy choces regardng local government consoldaton by summarzng selected scholarly studes concernng the ssue. The purpose s to provde nformaton n whch cvc leaders and organzatons should consder gven the communty preferences and objectves, poltcal constrants and local government structures present n Central New York. The lterature examnes the motvatons behnd consoldaton, and assesses the mpacts such reforms have had on metropoltan communtes. Ths should not be consdered a complete lstng of the lterature concernng regonalsm, consoldaton and metropoltan governance as other dmensons are not dscussed here (.e. legal consderatons). The fndngs of these artcles generally suggest that efforts to consoldate varous government structures and poltcal processes has acheved mproved regonal land-use and economc development plannng, whle also mprovng the level of state and federal fundng avalable to metropoltan communtes. However, n the medum and long terms, these studes hghlght several consequences of such reforms whch (a) often contradct proponents clams regardng consoldaton, (b) create greater socal and fscal constrants that seldom appear n publc debate, and (c) hghlght structural/organzatonal problems created by varyng consoldated arrangements. A summary of the metropoltan regons examned n the followng lterature s contaned n the appendx. Though largely crtcal, these studes do not necessarly suggest that consoldaton n ts varous forms s not an approprate course of acton. Rather, consoldaton requres prudent analyss and plannng n order to address the dstnctve needs of each metropoltan regon. Consoldaton s not for every communty, but could be a useful tool f admnstered under careful gudance. Readng Lst Benton, J.Edwn and Gamble, Darwn (1984). Cty/County Consoldaton and Economes of Scale: Evdence from a Tme Seres Analyss n Jacksonvlle, Florda. Socal Scence Quarterly. Volume 65, pp. 190-98. The authors compared Jacksonvlle/Duval wth non-consoldated Tampa, and found that the both taxes and publc expendtures n Jacksonvlle ncreased after the merger. The long run rato of per capta property taxes to expendtures ncreased by 47%, whle n Tampa, t had dropped 10%. (Note: Serous flaw n ths last clam. Property taxes are only one source of revenue. Thus, t doesn t really capture the full mpact on revenue structures. Other studes menton property taxes have ndeed declned n Jacksonvlle/Duval wth greater relance on user fees and sales taxes.) Blomqust, Wllam and Parks, Roger (1995). Fscal Servce and Poltcal Impacts 1
of Indanapols-Maron County s Ungov. Publus, Volume 25, Number 4, pp. 37-55. The authors contend that, There s evdence that central-cty Indanapols has enjoyed few fnancal or servce delvery advantages, and a consderable loss of poltcal nfluence. Authors clam that Ungov stablzed poltcal leadershp, but by establshng essentally a one-party control of local government. The system mproved government s ablty to manage and fnance captal projects and other development programs, and ncreased the amount of federal and state fundng, though the latter may also be due to other poltcal factors. Improved plannng and external funds contrbuted to the redevelopment of Central Townshp (former cty of Indy). However, arguments that consoldaton would brng n suburban tax base were wrong, based on how the fnal merger was structured: Ungov s not a complete cty-county merger; tax and servce dstrcts remaned separate; Central Townshp not only fnances cty-based servces (socal servces are consdered local, not county), but also Ungov s overall county operatons; thus, the burden for fnancng Central Townshp s redevelopment fell on nner-cty resdents. The result has been that Central Townshp has the hghest property taxes n the county. Furthermore, the regon dd experence job growth, but data s skewed because by defnton, suburban regons are part of the Ungov system n other words, t doesn t mean the cty tself has mproved. Carr, Jered B. and Feock, Rchard C., edtors (2004). Cty-County Consoldaton and Its Alternatves: Reshapng the Local Government Landscape. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. Seres of artcles argue that cty-county consoldatons generally do not lve up to clams made by consoldaton proponents because (a) Not all servces delvered by ctes and countes are the same, thus, fundamental structural dfferences mpede performance after consoldaton; (b) Not all publc servces have the same cost structures, thus, not all wll acheve economes of scale from consoldaton; (c) Havng a sngle, larger metropoltan government ncreases the overall transacton costs assocated wth delverng publc servces. Transacton costs can be anythng from the tme t takes to mplement a decson at the servce level (and the money t takes to compensate for those problems), to ncreases n personnel costs. Metropoltan government requres a much greater scope of coordnaton than tradtonal forms of local government. However, book does suggest that efforts to consoldate functons ncrementally and n dfferent ways may be more approprate. Functonal consoldaton and ntergovernmental cooperaton can be used to solate ndvdual publc servces n whch economes of scale can best be acheved. Consoldatng muncpal governments horzontally (ctes wth ctes/towns) va annexaton may be more approprate than consoldatng vertcally (ctes wth countes) because ctes/towns have smlar structures that delver smlar servces. Condrey, Stephen E. (1994). Organzatonal and Personnel Impacts of Local 2
Government Consoldaton: Athens-Clarke County, Georga. Journal of Urban Affars, Volume 16, pp. 371-83. The Athens-Clarke County merger provded cty-county employee protecton by ensurng personnel would not be drectly elmnated. Any reductons n personnel would come through attrton. Furthermore, personnel benefts would be equalzed, essentally by applyng the most generous plan to all workers. Gven these protectons, the author surveyed personnel to assess what the bureaucratc response had been to consoldaton. Intal problems developed due to transton costs assocated wth mergng. New government by law was not permtted to exceed spendng of the 2 former governments, thus, there was pressure to fnd other ways to elmnate costs. Surveys showed that employee morale declned post merger, largely as a reacton to ncrease cost-cuttng pressures. Further strans resulted from combnng 2 organzatonal cultures nto one cty employees and county employees dd not mesh all that well. Dolan, Drew (1990). Local Government Fragmentaton: Does t drve up the Cost of Government? Urban Affars Quarterly, Volume 26, Number 1, pp. 28-45. Dolan argues that the debate over local government fragmentaton s all too often centered on ntutve and mpressonstc arguments, and less on emprcal evdence. In order to strengthen the dscusson and fll a vod n research, he examnes fragmented government n Illnos communtes (102 countes), ncludng the hghly decentralzed Chcago metro area. He fnds that overall, there s a postve relatonshp between fragmentaton and cost of government, meanng that IN GENERAL, the greater number of governments n a regon ncreases the cost of government. BUT, ths fndng essentally compares apples to oranges t ncludes rural areas, where publc servces are mnmal, and urban areas where more servces are demanded and provded. In controllng for dfferent lvng envronments (comparng urban areas to urban areas), the cost of government actually declnes wth greater fragmentaton. Dolan also uses a thrd approach, examnng the pattern of expendtures among specfc unts of government n a regon don t ask what ths means t s a rather complcated statstcal method beyond the scope here but he fnds a more drect relatonshp n whch a greater degree of centralzaton (.e. consoldated arrangements) ncreases the cost of government. Ths thrd approach, he admts, needs further development. Note: By fragmented government, Dolan mples (1) multple ncorporate areas n one regon, (2) overlappng muncpal and county servces, (3) the exstence of specal servce and school dstrcts dstnct from muncpal government, and (4) the extenson of boundares beyond county and state lnes for one partcular regon. Durnng, Dan (1995). The Effects of Cty-County Consoldaton: The Perspectves 3
of Unted Government n Athens-Clarke County, Georga. Publc Admnstraton Quarterly, Volume 19, Number 3, pp. 227-98. The author surveys cty and county workers, pre (1991) and post merger (1992-93), n Athens-Clarke County, Georga. Despte early expectatons that the new consoldated government would functon better, respondents generally vewed the new government unfavorably. Ther perspectves provde evdence to support the arguments of consoldaton opponents that mergers do not ncrease effcency, effectveness, farness or responsveness. Although, the author also admts there may be flaws n the survey that don t fully capture respondents understandng of the ssue or potental bases resultng from changes n pay, job descrptons, etc. Durnng, Dan and Nobbe, Patrca D. (2000). Post-Transton Employee Perceptons of Cty-County Unfcaton: The Case of Athens-Clarke County. Publc Admnstraton Quarterly, Volume 24, Number 2, pp. 140-68. Durnng expands upon hs 1995 artcle (above) wth another survey conducted n 1997, gven to the same respondents of hs earler surveys. He and Nobbe fnd that responses n 1997 are generally more favorable than the earler post-consoldaton surveys n 92 and 93, but overall, employees reman negatve compared to earler optmstc expectatons expressed n the pre-merger 1991 survey. But as the authors note, One drawback of usng the opnons of employees to evaluate the effects of unfcaton s that employee vews do not represent those of all resdents. Ther opnons may or may not accurately reflect how well the new government s functonng and may nstead be nfluenced by the dsruptve and nstablty that follow a system-wde change or threats to ther pay, benefts or status n the organzaton. These personal mpacts--f negatve-- mght cause the employees to vew all aspects of unfcaton n a negatve way. In comparson, a poll of resdents n the communty showed that only 10% were dssatsfed wth the qualty of communty lfe. Post merger approval ratngs for varous publc servces ranged from 70% to 86%. Feock, Rchard C. and Carr, Jered B. (1997). A Reassessment of Cty-County Consoldaton: Economc Development Impacts. State and Local Government Revew. Volume 29, Number 3, pp. 166-71. Feock and Carr use a tme seres analyss to compare economc trends n consoldated Jacksonvlle/Duval County to (a) metropoltan Tampa/Hllsborough a non-consoldated regon smlar n sze and havng a smlar governng structure before the 1967 Jacksonvlle merger; and, (b) all other non-consoldated countes n Florda. Specfcally, they looked at changes n manufacturng, retal and servce establshments snce the Jacksonvlle merger n whch county-wde data s easy avalable. The results of ther study show no statstcally sgnfcant relatonshp between consoldaton and economc growth. Whle the authors contend that consoldaton may mprove regonal plannng, t does not drectly cause regonal economc growth. Rather, 4
there may only be certan sectors wthn the economy that beneft (although, they admt that should be for further study). They contend that the persstence of cty-county consoldaton as an opton for local government reform throughout the country may largely then be explaned by narrow nterests who see consoldaton as a way to advance ther agenda. These narrow nterests can range from ntellectual eltes who would lke to see ther deas tested, to rent-seekng economc nterests wshng to reduce costs. Fsher, Ronald (1996). State and Local Publc Fnance, 2 nd Edton. Chcago: Rchard D. Irwn. pp 126-127. Ths secton n Fsher s book descrbes the typcal costs structures for publc servce delvery at the local level, and the economc theory behnd economes of scale. It has strong polcy mplcatons concernng consoldaton and ts mpact on government effcency: The challenge n usng consoldaton to acheve greater effcency s determnng whch servces have the cost structures sutable for consoldaton. Below s a typcal cost curve for provdng a publc servce. Government agences operatng at Pont A may beneft by consoldatng nto one agency servng a larger porton of the populaton at Pont B, where costs of servce delvery are less per person; thus, achevng an economy of scale. However, consoldaton may also move agences already operatng effcently at Pont B to Pont C n a dseconomy of scale wth hgher costs. Economes of Populaton Scale A Cost/Person C B Populaton Served Two mportant lessons emerge: Frst, a complete merger of governments nto one metropoltan government may only beneft select servces already operatng at Pont A, but wll harm those already functonng at Pont B. Second, t wll be more effcent to 5
have multple agences n multple jursdctons delverng the same servce at Pont B than one agency operatng at Pont C. Fleschmann, Arnold (2000). Regonalsm and Cty-County Consoldaton n Small Metro Areas. State and Local Government Revew, Volume 32, pp. 213-26. Author examnes the poltcal processes n consoldaton referendums n Georga successful campagns n Athens and Augusta, not successful n Macon and Brunswck. The keys to a successful campagn were mnorty support, publc sector employee support, and the clam that local servces wll be mproved and unaltered n a negatve way. On ths last pont, he fnds notons of regonalsm fal to resonate among voters they generally care only about whether or not ther own local servces wll be affected. Thus, ssues of metropoltan growth, unty and regonal effcency carry less weght. The artcles does not examne the overall mpacts of consoldaton, but t does menton survey data that does reflect favorable vews from Athens and Augusta; specfcally concernng the ablty of consoldaton to remove poltcal conflct on ssues such as polce protecton, ntergovernmental cooperaton and double taxaton. Foster, Kathryn (1993). "Explorng the Lnks between Poltcal Structure and Metropoltan Growth." Poltcal Geography, Volume 12, Number 6, pp. 523-47 Foster examnes growth data from 1962-1982 under a new set of measures for local government fragmentaton. She fnds that evdence supportng ether the publc choce argument or the nsttutonal reform/consoldaton s mxed. However, she clams that the preponderance of nformaton does suggest that ntegrated structures (.e. consoldaton) may cause faster rates of growth. However, she acknowledges that to assess a poltcal structure s mpact on growth s problematc because across the Unted State, metropoltan regons dsplay vared local government structures whle dsplayng strong varatons n growth patterns. In other words, consoldated arrangements may be suted for growth strateges, but don t bet on t. In any metropoltan area, the effect of a poltcal structure on growth wll be condtoned by smultaneous changes n other dmensons of poltcal structure, as well a local crcumstances and condtons of leadershp, demographcs and development polces. (p. 542) Note: Foster s last comment hghlghts an mportant aspect n reform beng a bottom-up process. If not all local elements are algned and prepared to work under new governng structures n a way that reflects a communty s objectves, then there may be an ncreased rsk n falure. Foster, Kathryn, and Perry, Davd et al. (1996). Appendx A: Revew of Research on the Sgnfcance of Local Government Arrangements. Governance n Ere County: A foundaton for Understandng and Acton. Buffalo, NY: State 6
Unversty of New York at Buffalo. Found on the Internet at http://regonalnsttute.buffalo.edu/gove_repo/contents.html. Suggests the bass for rearrangng government structures bols down to a set of communty values and approaches to reformng government. Reformers/cvc leaders must frst recognze the domnant values/goals n a communty before developng a plan for reorganzaton. Otherwse, proposals to reform local government may never acheve the knd of communty support and understandng that s needed to acheve meanngful reform. (Note: There s a strong connecton to Leland and Thurmaer (2004) regardng how poltcal campagns are structured. See below.) These core values and approaches to reform are Effcency I publc or prvate sector servce delvery Effcency II centralzed vs. decentralzed local government arrangements Equty Ablty to pay vs. you pay for what you get Accountablty and responsveness Poltcal partcpaton Regonal economc growth Problem for polcy makers/cvc leaders s that no convncng evdence exsts to support one alternatve approach to another..e. Whle fully centralzed government arrangements can acheve fscal equty and acheve some level of effcency wth select publc servces, more decentralzed systems are cheaper and more responsve. Thus, an approprate course for local offcals and polcymakers n any regon s to understand tradeoffs between dmensons of governance, ascertan whch of these dmensons takes precedence wthn the regon at a partcular tme, and craft allances and systems of local governance accordngly. Gerth, Joseph (February 18, 2005). Mayor, councl get good job revew: Approval hgh n post-merger world The Courer Journal. Ctes poll n Lousvlle-Jefferson County that gves an 81% approval ratng to Mayor Jerry Abramson (D), and 72% to the Metro Councl. 88% of Democrats approve of Abramson, and 78% of Republcans. Abramson had approval ratngs as hgh as 91% n 1990 -- before the merger. Leland, Suzzane and Thurmaer, Kurt edtors (2004). Case Studes of Cty-County Consoldaton: Reshapng the Local Government Landscape. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. 7
A seres of artcles examnes 13 metropoltan areas and ther efforts to consoldate the central cty wth countes. Less than 15% of proposed mergers succeed, and those that succeed generally come after repeated faled attempts. The book does not focus, nor does t provde extensve evdence on whether consoldaton acheves the results proponents clam. Rather, t descrbes the poltcal process to fnd why consoldaton proposals ether fal or succeed n relatonshp to the prevalng values, norms and organzatons wthn metropoltan communtes. Authors fnd that most referendums fal because the poltcal elte reman dvded, consttuents do not recognze the need for reform, or they do not understand the process. Poltcal stakeholders, thus, become more concerned wth possble consequences of merger (.e. power loss, changes n representaton, changes n demanded servces) rather than proponents clams. Successful efforts generally are bult around effectve leadershp who can rally the poltcal elte, buld upon a theme that resonates n the communty (specfcally, economc development/growth), and lmt opposton by deflatng ther nfluence and arguments. Note: Some of the case studes do allude to studes whch seem to support the clam that consoldaton produces mxed results at best. Full descrpton of chapters nvolvng successful mergers can be found n another document contact Erc Persons. Lowery, Davd (2001). Metropoltan Governance Structures from a Neoprogressve Perspectve. Swss Poltcal Scence Revew. Ths and other relevant artcles by Lowery can be found on the Internet at http://www.unc.edu/depts/polsc/lowery_page.html. Lowery provdes a general argument/ratonale for metropoltan government/cty-county consoldaton as a way to address the socal, economc and fscal dscrepances between ctes and suburbs. He traces the consoldaton movement from the progressve era n early 20 th century whch saw stronger, more professonal government bureaucracy as a tool to end corrupton and the nfluence of poltcal machnes n local government. Neoprogressves see modern problems of urban plght, concentrated poverty, and racal segregaton between ctes and suburbs as the major challenges to local governance, and thus, see stronger, centralzed systems of government as ways to address these dspartes. Lowery acknowledges that Tebout (see below) may have been rght n terms of dollar value n runnng a government, but n consderng the socal problems that result, the costs are ndeed hgher. Note: Lowery s argument (see hs webste for other publshed work) hghlghts an mportant dlemma common n cost-beneft analyss. Proponents of metropoltan government wll argue that the socal costs of fscal, racal, economc segregaton between ctes and suburbs justfes the need to form a metropoltan government. The fscal costs of fragmented government are less, but these other, sometmes mmeasurable socal costs, must be consdered. The challenge, thus, for polcy makers and cvc leaders s determnng whether or not the communty as a whole wll accept these notons, and would be wllng to accept consoldaton or other metropoltan reforms as correctve 8
measures. Oakerson and Parks (2000) attempt to resolve ths dlemma gven the varous obstacles to structural reform n local government see below. Oakerson, Ronald J. and Parks, Roger B. (2000). Regonalsm, Localsm and Metropoltan Governance: Suggestons from the Research Program on Local Publc Economes. State and Local Government Revew, Volume 32, Number 3, 169-179. The artcle argues for metropoltan governance, not metropoltan government. The authors warn that before a communty attempts regonal reform, t must have a strong awareness of the complexty of local government. They contend that centralzed, metropoltan governments are more costly, less effcent than fragmented systems (not to menton, poltcally dffcult to even receve approval). Because of ths, the federal government has moved away from pushng for regonal, consoldated systems of local government and back toward supportng fragmented systems. Despte comng across as defenders of fragmented systems, the authors do recognze the need for metropoltan reform n order to address the dspartes between ctes and suburbs. Such reforms should be drected at mprovng the provsonal sde of government (for example, ntergovernmental grants and transfers) whle mantanng the producton of publc servces at a level whch s most effcent (see appendx for more nformaton on ths dstncton). Improvng local governance generally depends on mprovng voce n the poltcal process, partcularly for mnorty communtes. Greater voce wll help to better understand whch ssues have a regonal mpact/cost, and whch do not. Reforms should target the poltcal nsttutons and processes that lmt dscourse, and lmt the adequate provson of publc servces to poorer, mnorty communtes; reforms should not target the nsttutons that produce government servces. Rosentraub, Mark (2000). Cty-county Consoldaton and the Rebuldng of Image: The Fscal Lessons from Indanapols s Ungov Program. State and Local Government Revew, Volume 32, Number 3, pp. 198-212. Rosentraub contends that that the 1970 merger had a drect mpact on the redevelopment of downtown Indanapols. The prmary reason he gves s that that plannng for the regon was consoldated under one body under Ungov. Havng one metropoltan plannng agency drected fundng and projects supported by local funds away from suburbs and toward the downtown area. In dong so, Ungov was able to attract federal, state and prvate nvestment to the downtown area.for every $1 spent by Ungov, $5.82 came n from other sources. Despte these achevements, Rosentraub warns that fscal nequtes were never fxed by the consoldaton. Ungov mantaned separate fscal/taxng dstrcts so ndvdual communtes under Ungov could contnue to delver separate servces, such as polce and fre protecton. As a result, the burden for fnancng Ungov s development efforts was placed on the poorer communtes n the old cty of Indanapols and not shared wth the 9
other wealther jursdctons of Ungov. Specfcally, Rosentraub descrbes how empowerment zones and other tax abatement programs were successful n attractng development, but non abated neghborhoods and property owners lvng n the Central Townshp pcked up a greater tax burden. (Note: Lesson beng that empowerment zones, centralzed regonal plannng wll work, but to be fully effcent and equtable, fscal revenues must be collected from other communtes.) Rusk, Davd (2003). Ctes wthout Suburbs, Thrd Edton: A Census 2000 Update. Washngton, DC: Woodrow Wlson Center Press. Major clam s ctes that can consoldate or annex suburban terrtory ( elastc ctes) are more equtable, cheaper and more economcally vbrant that older, fragmented metropoltan regons ( nelastc ctes). Rusk provdes detaled statstcal evdence based on census data to back hs clams. Data shows that economc declne, segregaton, and the legal/structural constrants to do anythng about t are much greater n the nelastc ctes, most common n the Northeast. Note: Rusk does a good job s descrbng the condtons of fragmented government arrangements n declnng metropoltan regons, BUT he gathers a lot of scholarly crtcsm n that he assumes causalty wthout employng proper statstcal tools. There s nothng wrong wth the data he uses, but how he uses t. Hs methodology and assumptons are way off. He assumes that beng nelastc causes ctes to struggle; but he does not acknowledge that other factors may have contrbuted to condtons n whch ctes now have the appearance of nelastcty. For example, ndustral ctes n the NE may be declnng because of labor moblty, lack of dversfcaton n the economy, geography, etc. The elastc ctes, conversely, may be experencng growth because they have more green space to develop, dfferent avalable economc resources to offer, and other factors that attract busnesses and people. Hence, the reverse causal relatonshp may be true: the nflux of people and nvestment may have created the condtons n whch ctes become elastc. Ths crtque has valuable polcy mplcatons, as there may be more fundamental problems wth local governance that structural reform n government may not address. Savtch, H.V. and Vogel, Ronald (2004). Suburbs wthout a Cty: Power and Cty-County Consoldaton. Urban Affars Revew, Volume 39, Number 6, pp. 758-90. A farly detaled crtcal assessment of the merger process of Lousvlle-Jefferson County. Authors crtcze merger proponents for neglectng emprcal evdence whch suggests 10
cty-county consoldatons never acheve effcency, equty, and economc development. Instead, the greatest mpact of mergers s a power shft away from mnortes and resdents n central ctes and toward suburban nterests. They clam cty-county consoldaton perssts as an alternatve because t s drven essentally by journalsts and poltcans who fal to ether understand or acknowledge the data and scentfc theory that hghlght varous consequences of central, metropoltan government (specfcally, Rusk and Nel Perce). And by sellng the message of merger based on the one voce argument, what proponents don t realze s that one voce generally means elmnatng mnorty nterests from the publc polcy process. Note: Authors don t really offer alternatves. In fact, they mplctly crtcze fragmented arrangements n argung that the Lousvlle model, borrowed from Indanapols, mantans separate taxng and servce dstrcts. They clam these systems never resolve fscal and servce dscrepances between the cty and suburban areas. Ther overall pont s that the merger s not a true merger, thus nner cty mnortes are short-changed t s part of ther power realgnment argument. Savtch, H.V. and Vogel, Ronald, edtors (1996). Regonal Poltcs: Amerca n a Post-Cty Age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publcatons. Part III has case studes on Mam/Dade, Mnneapols/St. Paul, Jacksonvlle and Portland. See appendx for addtonal nformaton on Mam and Mnneapols/St. Paul. Mam/Metro Dade County (Author Gene Stowers): Descrbes Mam s 2-Ter system as somewhat antquated and overburdened. Set up n 1957, Metro Dade was the sole governng authorty to unncorporated areas representng 35% of the county populaton, whle also provdng other regonal and tradtonally muncpal servces to ctes. Today, a majorty of Dade s populaton lves n these unncorporated areas (53% n 1990, over 60% expected n 2005) thus, ts capacty to govern s ncreasngly lmted. Metro Dade s fndng t more dffcult to provde local servces to unncorporated areas and contnue to servce and fnance urban needs n ctes at the same tme. (Sde note: Amercan Cty Busness Journal recently ranked the cty of Mam as one of the most fscally dstressed n the naton n 2005). Suggestons have ncluded creatng new ctes so that unncorporated areas can have a more responsve, local government. Other problems have been representaton (wasn t untl 1993 when votng dstrcts were created allowng mnortes on the County Commsson), weak executve leadershp (though artcle s unclear about ths), and growth of metro regon to nclude Broward and Monroe Countes (there s pressure to expandng regonal plannng and other governng functons across the 3 countes). Mnneapols/St. Paul (Author John Harrgan): Artcle credts the Twn Ctes Metropoltan Councl for regonal development achevements n 60 s and 70 s, but crtczes ts lack of response to nner-cty decay n the 80 s and 90 s. Mnneapols-St. Paul has had moderate economc success n post-ndustral age, experencng overall populaton and job growth. However, snce 1980, central/core ctes of Mnneapols-St. Paul have seen ncreased concentrated poverty levels and elmnaton of manufacturng 11
jobs. These condtons have made t more dffcult for poor and mnorty communtes n central ctes to fnd adequate, upward-moble jobs. The Councl had been successful n resolvng sewage and water servce, land plannng and regonal development, but snce 1980, author contends the Councl loss power/nfluence as a result of changes n leadershp/support n the legslature and busness communtes. In 1994, the state granted the Councl operatng authorty n addton to polcy makng authorty for specfc regonal ssues, but ts members were not elected and thus not accountable. It s hard to tell how the author connects the Councl wth the economy, but the mpled message seems to be that the power shftng n the 80s and 90s seems to have a relatonshp wth central ctes populaton declne and ncreases n concentrated poverty.he seems to argue that the Councl could have, should have done more. Jacksonvlle (Author Burt Swanson): Author clams the consoldaton process was bult upon 4 sometmes contradctory prncples: economc effcency, accountablty, admnstratve effectveness, and poltcal and socal equty. You can t be accountable wthout addng cost to government. You can t be effcent wthout rskng equty. Hence, Jacksonvlle faled to lve up to consoldaton proponents clams. Demographcs: Reformers clamed the populaton n 1980 would be 885,000; t was 672,971. Wasn t untl the 1980s when populaton began to ncrease, but t actually declned n the central cty only 20% of metro populaton now lve n the former cty of Jacksonvlle. The regon remans one of the most racally segregated n the naton Author clams consoldaton dd not cause ths, but t hasn t helped t ether. Fnance and Economy: Consoldaton removed double taxng, reduced property taxes, but ncreased relance upon user chargers shftng the burden onto ndvduals (and thus, less equtable) n order to make the area attractve to economc growth and development. Resdents generally feel there are large dscrepances between servces delvered to ctes and suburbs. Poltcs/Power: Consoldaton never acheved the knd of unty between the socoeconomc and poltcal systems that many reformers assumed. Electoral partcpaton has declned by 17%; racal dvsons exsts n party afflaton; mnortes from central cty have been elected to county seat, but power dluted by whte, suburban members. Consoldaton n Jacksonvlle dd lttle to shft power from eltes to the masses. Instead, t replaced the old guard poltcal clque wth economcally elte reformers Portland (Author Arthur Nelson): Ths artcle descrbes the work of the Metropoltan Servce Dstrct (MSD or Metro ) rather than ts mpact. MSD was frst created n 1970 to manage the regon s sold waste dsposal. In 1977, the Oregon legslature expanded MSD s role n the Portland regon. It now oversees the regonal zoo, sold waste dsposal, regonal development, and toursm. It s composed of an executve offcer and the Metro Councl, the only drectly elected regonal governng board n the U.S. Each councl member s elected for 4-year terms, yet remans nonpartsan. Note: The land-use polces have recently been recevng crtcsm n the popular press because the nablty to buld new housng has drven up housng costs dramatcally, and concentrated poverty s begnnng to emerge n certan areas Further nvestgaton s needed n ths area. 12
Seldon, Sally Coleman and Campbell, Rchard (2000). The Expendture Impacts of Unfcaton n a Small Georga County: A Contngency Perspectve of Cty- County Consoldaton. Publc Admnstraton Quarterly, Volume 24, Number 2, pp. 169-201. In lookng at the Athens-Clarke County merger and 3 comparson regons, authors show some mproved short-term and long-term spendng trends followng a consoldaton when the consoldaton occurs n a relatvely small county. Thus, effcency gans may not always be the case n larger, more complex regons. As they explan, Consoldaton n smaller countes usually does not ental mergng a large number of local governments; because of lmted competton pror to consoldaton, mergng smaller local governments s less lkely to ncrease costs through decreased competton. Overall, expendtures n Athens-Clarke County ncreased over tme, but those cost ncreases are better explaned by polcy choces made by publc offcals and other poltcal factors -- not due to the structure of the new government. In fact, there were cost savngs n some but not all functons and departments followng the merger. Swanson, Burt E. (2000). Quandares of Pragmatc Reform: A Reassessment of the Jacksonvlle Experence. State and Local Government Revew, Volume 32, Number 3, pp. 227-38. Author clams that n lookng at the Jacksonvlle experence, those consderng consoldaton reform need to understand t wll: (a) harm mnortes whle enhancng corporate eltes; (b) alter the balance between publc and prvate power; (c) overshadow poltcal values; (d) be acheved by avodng controversy and manufacturng consent. He reterates other studes that have shown declne n poltcal partcpaton, redstrbuton favorng suburban communtes, and falure to acheve economes-of-scale. Although ctng moderate success regardng ncreased accountablty, admnstratve effectveness has been hampered by an excessvely centralzed, rgd system that exacerbates poltcal conflct. He concludes, nterestngly enough, that consoldaton proponents who gnore emprcal evdence, and scholars unwllng to acknowledge anecdotal successes, must be wllng to put asde ther bases so further study and dscourse can develop. Tebout, Charles M. (1956). A Pure Theory of Local Expendtures. Journal of Poltcal Economy, Volume 64, 416-424. Semnal artcle n whch Tebout argues that more fragmented systems of local government wll be most cost effcent...also known as the publc choce argument. Tebout clams that ctzens wll choose a muncpalty based on (a) what publc servces they want and other qualty-of-lfe preferences, and (b) what they are wllng to pay n taxes. People wllfully pay for the level of servces they demand. Ths process of sortng wll foster competton among jursdctons, resultng n lower costs as each 13
muncpalty attempts to get the most bang for the buck. Thus, effcent government s acheved. 2 major crtques of Tebout s argument. (1) Not all ctzens have the same ablty to move and choose whch jursdcton they want to lve n; they don t all have the same ablty to pay for what they want. (2) The consequence ( negatve externalty ) of such arrangements s segregaton among races and ncome levels, even though fscally, evdence seems to support that fragmentaton does ndeed lower the cost of local government. Appendx Oakerson and Parks Provsonal Level vs. Producton Level of Local Government From Oakerson and Parks (2000) Central to ther analyss s dvdng publc servce delvery nto a provsonal level and a producton level. The provsonal level refers to the decson makng process whch determnes whch publc goods and servces to provde, how to fnance them, and how to nsure they are produced effcently and effectvely. The producton level determnes 14
where and how servces are delvered. Producton means transformng nput resources to make a product or render a servce. The authors argue that multple provsonal unts are needed: bgger provsonal unts to decde upon and fnance regonal objectves, and smaller provsonal unts to appeal to smaller nterests n ctes, towns, and vllages. Lkewse, multple producton unts are needed bgger unts to acheve economes of scale, when avalable, and to perform regonal functons. Smaller producton unts are needed where response tme s mportant (.e. polce, EMS) and demanded servce levels vary. Thus, havng a sngle metropoltan government removes the dversty that s needed n the provson and producton of publc goods and servces. To address the fscal and servce nequtes among poor and wealthy communtes, t would thus be better to mprove redstrbuton among dfferent provsonal unts.for example, through ntergovernmental grants and transfers. From Savtch and Vogel (1996) Mam/Metro Dade County: It s a 2-Ter system created n 1957 to provde varous regonal servces (e. tax collecton, law enforcement, parks/recreaton) and other metro servces (publc transportaton, publc works, traffc engneerng, arports, etc) across all areas of the county. A consoldaton attempt faled n 1953. Incorporated ctes remaned autonomous and provde ther own local servces n addton to what Metro provdes. In unncorporated areas, Metro Dade s the sole governng authorty provdng both countywde and local servces. Mnneapols/St. Paul: The Twn Ctes Metropoltan Councl was frst establshed n 1967 to address sewer and water problems n the regon, then gradually ncreased ts authorty (granted by the state legslature) over land plannng, economc development, transportaton and other select regonal ssues. The Councl sets polcy, largely through specal commssons t apponts, but leaves t to local governments to mplement ts polces. Summary of Case Studes Examned Cty Communty Values Acheved? Comments 15
E f f c e n c y E q u t y E c o n o m y P l a n n n g P o l t c a l P a r t c. Indanapols - - + +? - Jacksonvlle - - - - - + Lousvlle???? +? Mnneapols -St Paul? - + +? - Mam - - - -? - Athens, GA +? + + + + Portland, OR? - + + + + A c c o u n t a b l t y Never a full consoldaton. Only at the decson-makng level. After 30 years, consoldaton has never acheved stated objectves. Has acheved a level of growth, but no dfferent than non-consoldated areas. Too early to tell, but merger and leadershp wdely popular. Non-elected councl oversees regonal polcy makng; porton of regonal tax revenues pooled to fnance regonal needs, but central ctes n declne. 2-ter system has faled to adjust to populaton changes. Small sze has ts advantages. Consoldaton movement experenced few poltcal and structural obstacles. Strct plannng gudelnes have drected growth, but showng sgns of concentrated poverty as cost of lvng escalates. + Has acheved objectves or postve results. - Has not acheved objectves or condtons are worse.? Conflctng evdence or lttle nformaton s avalable n selected readng. Addtonal research may be needed. 16