It’s no secret that local units of government here are having trouble paying the bills for necessary services. Look at Lansing where the City Council passed a budget based on shutting down city hall for non-emergency operations for one month a year. Then there’s Ingham County which is threatening to cut its road patrol for rural areas without other police protection.
That’s why this story from the Grand Rapids Press about serious local government consolidations in Kent and Ottawa Counties is important.
There’s lots of overlapping functions in local government where consolidation would streamline these functions. The result could be huge financial savings.
Here’s what a former Grand Rapids mayor says about all the local government in his county and next door Ottawa County:
Former Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie is fond of noting that West Michigan voters elect 637 politicians to run the cities, townships, villages, libraries and schools in Kent County and eastern Ottawa County.
Could it happen here in mid-Michigan and in the State Capital city? It has already taken place in Indianapolis and Louisville.
What do you think? Could it work here? I invite your comments.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I think this is just a trail balloon idea being floated by the Hollister-Bernero alliance to set up Bernero to be the “regional czar” on his way to a SERIOUS run eventually for governor and beyond. His run this year is its own trail balloon given the unlikelihood of a Dem victory.
I think this is an interesting idea for services, but can’t see the citizens and many individual communities supporting consolidating municipalities into one Greater Lansing city/county as is being proposed in Grand Rapids. But I think we can and should explore more service sharing and potentially consolidation as a cost-saving and efficiency option.
One model that New Jersey has examined is that one municipal government
could preside over perhaps 10 or 15 communities, with the savings accruing
due to elimination of redundant positions or services. For example, one
administrator can effectively administrate 4,000 or 40,000 people, but
the cost is spread out over 10 time the number of households. Other roles,
such as mayors, committees, etc., could come from a larger talent pool, and
this model could also give more leverage in negotiations with the state and
with contract negotiations.
Much of this, and more can be found at:
http://www.couragetoconnectnj.org/faq/