Download or read book City County Consolidation and Its Alternatives Reshaping the Local Government Landscape written by J.B. Carr and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-07-08 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: City-country consolidation builds upon the Progressive tradition of favoring structural reform of local governments. This volume looks at some important issues confronting contemporary efforts to consolidate governments and develops a theoretical approach to understanding both the motivations for pursuing consolidation and the way the rules guiding the process shape the outcome. Individual chapters consider the push for city-county consolidation and the current context in which such decisions are debated, along with several alternatives to city-county consolidation. The transaction costs of city-county consolidation are compared against the costs of municipal annexation, inter-local agreements, and the use of special district governments to achieve the desired consolidation of services. The final chapters compare competing perspectives for and against consolidation and put together some of the pieces of an explanatory theory of local government consolidation.

Download or read book Case Studies of City County Consolidation written by Suzanne M. Leland and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on 2004-07-19 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Facing cutbacks in federal and state assistance and a new wave of taxpayer revolts, local governments have renewed interest in local government consolidation as a way of achieving efficiencies of scale in response to citizen demands for services. Yet the vast majority of consolidation efforts fail, either during the process of drafting a charter or once they reach the ballot - only five have passed since 1990; only thirty-two have been successfully implemented since the first, when the city of New Orleans merged with Orleans Parish in 1805. What accounts for the high failure rate and what factors led to successful consolidations? This volume presents thirteen comparable case studies of consolidation campaigns and distills the findings.

Download or read book The Politics of City County Consolidation written by Keon S. Chi and published by . This book was released on 1975 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On November 7, 1972 the voters of the City of Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky overwhelmingly approved a comprehensive consolidation plan and the merged "Urban County Government" was officially launched January 1, 1974 to become the state's first and the nation's twelfth successful consolidation of city and county governments. The purpose of the research reported in this article is to offer some plausible explanations, based on document data, newspaper sources, personal observation and interviews, to the frequently-cited question, why consolidation was an acceptable alternative. The following are some of the findings of this study. (1) The Lexington experience may be viewed as a typical city-county consolidation in that it occurred in a medium-sized Southern metropolis and it took place under threat of annexation. (2) The Lexington experience tends to confirm the view that the occurrence of a critical circumstance, in addition to usual favorable conditions, would assure the success of consolidation campaign. What is unique and not found in the previous consolidation attempts, however, is the fact that the merger campaign in Kentucky's second most populous area was initiated and carried out in the midst of the probability that Lexington, then a second class city, would be reclassified as a first class city due to a rapid population increase and the municipal classification system prescribed by the state constitution. (3) While the community environment provided a set of favorable conditions for the consolidation campaign, it seems likely that the success of the Lexington merger might have been attributed to stimuli generated by the previous consolidation experiences, notably those of the Nashville metro, the Indianapolis Unigov and Jacksonville-Duval County. In fact, these areas had been considered as "model cities" in the consolidation campaign. (4) In view of the fact that the campaign was not well-organized, limited, and low-keyed, it can be suggested that the question of how much trust voters have in consolidation campaigners is more critical than how they perceive campaign strategies or governmental change itself. The validity of this conclusion can only be verified by a comprehensive survey of voter attitudes toward the consolidation plan.

Download or read book The Politics of City County Merger written by W. E. Lyons and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although city-county consolidation has been urged for years as a solution for many urban problems, relatively few communities have come to the point of offering such an option to the voters and in most of the communities that have done so, the voters have rejected the idea. In 1972 the voters of Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky, approved consolidation by a better than two-to- one margin. W. E. Lyons examines this victory for consolidation, comparing the Lexington setting with other places where merger has been attempted. For the first time in the literature, the details of actually drafting a consolidated city-county charter are described. Lyons shows that if either the city or the county government is hostile, the resulting problems are sufficient to stymie the whole undertaking. Even under the most favorable of conditions it is difficult for a commission of thirty citizens to develop the skills and maintain the patience and spirit of compromise necessary to produce a workable charter, acceptable to all members. This examination of a successful consolidation fight includes the results of several surveys of Lexington voters before the referendum and an analysis of the election results. Lyons's description of the campaign strategies used and the reasons for their selection will be especially valuable to leaders considering consolidation in their own communities.

Download or read book City County Consolidation written by Suzanne M. Leland and published by Georgetown University Press. This book was released on 2010-07-15 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although a frequently discussed reform, campaigns to merge a major municipality and county to form a unified government fail to win voter approval eighty per cent of the time. One cause for the low success rate may be that little systematic analysis of consolidated governments has been done. In City–County Consolidation, Suzanne Leland and Kurt Thurmaier compare nine city–county consolidations—incorporating data from 10 years before and after each consolidation—to similar cities and counties that did not consolidate. Their groundbreaking study offers valuable insight into whether consolidation meets those promises made to voters to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of these governments. The book will appeal to those with an interest in urban affairs, economic development, local government management, general public administration, and scholars of policy, political science, sociology, and geography.

Download or read book City county Consolidation written by Alva W. Stewart and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 22 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Impacts of City county Government Consolidation written by Danny W. Durning and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Local Government Consolidation in the United States written by Dagney Gail Faulk and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses two issues related to the structure of local government: the determinants of consolidation and the potential impact of consolidation on local government spending. This is a narrow undertaking and leaves important elements of local government reform for future analysis. The study's primary foci are examining the factors that influence city-county consolidation, considering the impact of city-county consolidation on local government spending, and estimating the potential savings that could result from the scale economies and efficiency gains from consolidating local government units. While other regions of the United States are considered in this study, but the analysis focuses primarily on the Midwest where population declines and changes in the employment base and state policies (such as property tax caps in Indiana) have had dramatic effects on the fiscal viability of local governments. The current economic climate, along with policy changes related to property tax restructuring in many states, has led to substantial reductions in local governments' budgets. As a result, many local governments are in crisis and are considering some level of consolidation. Statistical methods and data on consolidation referendum attempts in the United States since 1970 are used to test whether governments that have consolidated (i.e., voters approved the consolidation referendum) had higher spending prior to their consolidation (as measured by local government employment rates, payrolls, and expenditures) compared to the average local government in the state. The effects of city-county consolidation are explored; using consolidation referendum data, the impact of consolidation on local government employment rates, payrolls, and expenditures is examined. The influence of consolidation on economic development is also investigated with some interesting results. The study also used two methods to estimate the savings from government consolidation and presents aggregate models to examine the potential savings from economies of scale and efficiency improvements. The book also helpfully provides a helpful discussion of the economies of scale and efficiency for several functional areas, including police and fire protection, sewerage, solid waste, public welfare, administration, health, education, and libraries. This book will be an essential resource for political scientists and policy makers interested in American government. Written in a highly accessible manner, it will also be a valuable read for students and general readers.

Download or read book City County Consolidation and Its Alternatives written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Local Government Consolidation in the United States written by Dagney Gail Faulk and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book addresses two issues related to the structure of local government: the determinants of consolidation and the potential impact of consolidation on local government spending. This is a narrow undertaking and leaves important elements of local government reform for future analysis. The study's primary foci are examining the factors that influence city-county consolidation, considering the impact of city-county consolidation on local government spending, and estimating the potential savings that could result from the scale economies and efficiency gains from consolidating local government units. While other regions of the United States are considered in this study, but the analysis focuses primarily on the Midwest where population declines and changes in the employment base and state policies (such as property tax caps in Indiana) have had dramatic effects on the fiscal viability of local governments. The current economic climate, along with policy changes related to property tax restructuring in many states, has led to substantial reductions in local governments' budgets. As a result, many local governments are in crisis and are considering some level of consolidation. Statistical methods and data on consolidation referendum attempts in the United States since 1970 are used to test whether governments that have consolidated (i.e., voters approved the consolidation referendum) had higher spending prior to their consolidation (as measured by local government employment rates, payrolls, and expenditures) compared to the average local government in the state. The effects of city-county consolidation are explored; using consolidation referendum data, the impact of consolidation on local government employment rates, payrolls, and expenditures is examined. The influence of consolidation on economic development is also investigated with some interesting results. The study also used two methods to estimate the savings from government consolidation and presents aggregate models to examine the potential savings from economies of scale and efficiency improvements. The book also helpfully provides a helpful discussion of the economies of scale and efficiency for several functional areas, including police and fire protection, sewerage, solid waste, public welfare, administration, health, education, and libraries. This book will be an essential resource for political scientists and policy makers interested in American government. Written in a highly accessible manner, it will also be a valuable read for students and general readers.

Download or read book The Politics of City County Merger written by William E. Lyons and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Selected Bibliography City county Consolidation in the United States written by Anthony G. White and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 62 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Functional Consolidation of Services in City county Government written by Detroit Public Library. Municipal Reference Library and published by . This book was released on 1957 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Politics of City county Consolidation in Lexington and Fayette County Kentucky written by Richard V. Murphy and published by . This book was released on 1973 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Truth about City county Consolidation written by Dade County Research Foundation (Fla.) and published by . This book was released on 1948 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Challenge of Local Governmental Reorganization written by United States. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations and published by . This book was released on 1974 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Consolidated City and County Government of San Francisco written by Percy Vincent Long and published by . This book was released on 1912 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: