Positive Aspects Of City County Consolidation example essay topic

#1) In a city-county consolidation, two adjoining jurisdictions are absorbed into a single government. In essence, the structure and function of local government are provided by a solitary jurisdiction. While there are 32 areas that have decided to consolidate their government here in the U. S, there are just as many who have ruled against it. For this reason, it becomes apparent that both pros and cons exist when deciding to undergo a city-county consolidation. In Georgia, both the Athens-Clarke and Augusta-Richmond County jurisdictions decided it in their best and most favorable interest to consolidate. Here, and in other states, mergers have been established for several reasons.

Similar to federal and state governments, city-county governments often times bicker over pigheaded policy problems. To help settle these disputes, city-county consolidations treat these stiff-necked policies as regional issues. No longer do the two cities squabble over who is accountable for what problem. Another advantage to city-county consolidation is that they produce economies of scale. For example, correctional facilities can be run under a single jurisdiction. As a result, operational costs are reduced.

Also very persuasive when deciding to undergo a consolidation is professionalism. Since conflicts between the two cities have been resolved, along with issues of accountability, the single regional government is better equipped to handle problems. They can act in a more professional manner now that many distractions have been taken out of the picture. So, with all of the positive aspects of city-county consolidation, it is difficult to understand why other cities have not followed suit. The answer is due to many negative aspects of the merger. First, a consolidation is very expensive.

Not only is it costly for the government, but also for the residents. Tax savings are at a minimum and most often times are nonexistent. In Florida, both taxes and expenditures increased after the Jacksonville-Duval county consolidation. For this reason, people are very unwilling to consolidate. In addition to tax and expenditure problems, issues arise with minorities. For many years, these minority groups have fought very hard to win political power.

If the group was a minority in their primary city, just think what they would be after adding another city. The minority vote would be next to nothing. Lastly, many cities refuse to consolidate due to loss of identity. For example, a citizen living in a small city would have a large voice in the local government. If another city was tacked on, a once strong voice would lose power. This is very similar to the minority issue, but on a more singular basis.

Clearly, there are two sides to the city-county consolidation fence. As with most all decisions, there are both positive and negative consequences.