![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.occasionalplanet.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/stchas-merger-map_cropped-300x270.jpg?resize=144%2C130\" "\\"stchas")
<\/a>Off-again, on-again ideas about a re-consolidation of St. Louis city and St. Louis County have surfaced many times in the years since the two got what\u2019s known as The Great Divorce of 1876. Today, as 2010 census numbers show a dramatic and continuing hollowing out of the city, some city leaders are looking west, wondering if a city-county reconciliation is possible and\/or desirable. But the topic is political dynamite. Just ask St. Louis County Supervisor Charlie Dooley, who, during his 2010 re-election campaign, was mis-characterized by his opponent as favoring consolidation with the City, creating a damaging negative buzz. [FYI: He was re-elected, despite the slam.] Even more recently, St. Louis City Mayor Francis Slay jumped in, hinting that City-County consolidation might be a good idea.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, many other metropolitan areas have gotten busier\u2014and some have actually made consolidation happen. Here\u2019s a look at some history, recent developments and prospects for city-county consolidation around the country.<\/p>\n
Landscape<\/strong><\/p>\n According to the National Association of Counties (NACo), fewer than 40 consolidated city-county governments exist nationwide. Today, in slumping economic times for counties and cities, some say that the urge to merge may be on the rise. Actually, consolidation has never gone out of style. NACo says, \u201cHardly a year has gone by since 1902 without local governments considering consolidation, taking proposals to the ballot more than 150 times.\u201d<\/p>\n Although proposed often, metropolitan consolidations usually don\u2019t materialize. Over the past 20 years, says NACo, consolidation plans have been proposed in more than 40 regions. Depending on whose statistics you believe, only between 15 and 30 percent of those proposals made it. The most recent successful big-city consolidation was in 2003, when Louisville and Jefferson County, Ky., united \u2014 after three earlier attempts were rejected by voters.<\/p>\n The pros and cons of city-county consolidation are a book in themselves. Proponents say consolidation brings economies of scale<\/a>, elimination of redundancies, streamlined purchasing and reduced payroll. Critics of consolidation<\/a> say evidence in already-consolidated areas shows that these benefits don\u2019t materialize, and that consolidation creates larger, more impersonal, less responsive bureaucracies.<\/p>\n Shape shifting<\/strong><\/p>\n Any discussion of city-county consolidation needs to acknowledge that there are many ways to skin this particular cat. Some cities and counties have accomplished true mergers. Others consolidate and\/or share services, but don\u2019t change boundaries\u2014a form of consolidation that avoids the political-territorial wars that a full merger might ignite. Then there\u2019s the \u201cunified government\u201d model, a term used by Wyandotte County, Kansas to describe its consolidation with Kansas City, Kansas: In that arrangement, some cities and towns remain separate jurisdictions within the county. Or, how about a \u201ccoalition,\u201d as in Atlanta, Georgia<\/a>, in which municipalities form governmental organizations that can\u2019t make or enforce laws, but can make recommendations on projects with regional impact. \u00a0To further confuse the issue, there are \u201cconsolidated cities,\u201d<\/a> in which the formerly independent, incorporated areas maintain some governmental powers.<\/p>\n Whodunit<\/strong><\/p>\n So, who\u2019s gotten city-county mergers passed? And how many tries did it take? Here\u2019s a look at some late-20th<\/sup> and early-21st<\/sup> century attempts. [Info compiled from several sources<\/a>. [The National Association of Counties has a complete list of all city-county merger votes <\/a>undertaken between 1805 and 2008.]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The flip side<\/strong><\/p>\n If there\u2019s a Las Vegas betting line on city-county consolidations [and isn\u2019t there a line on just about everything?], the odds must be very long. As previously noted, most attempts fail, take multiple tries, or never even get off the ground. For example<\/a>:<\/p>\n A lesson from Memphis<\/strong><\/p>\n The most recent attempt at a city-county consolidation took place in November 2010, when voters were asked to decide on a proposed merger between Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee. To be enacted, the proposal needed to win in the simultaneous, but separate, elections held in the city and the county. It won narrowly in Memphis<\/a> [51%-49%], but was trounced in the suburban county [85%-15%]. Opponents of the Memphis consolidation<\/a> called the arguments for consolidation \u201cfallacies,\u201d and used less-than-stellar statistics from a similar merger in Indianapolis as ammunition. Proponents of the merger<\/a>, though discouraged by the results of the first such attempt in 39 years, are vowing to fight on and to keep the dialogue alive. The whole debate is further complicated by a lawsuit, filed by proponents, challenging the constitutionality of the dual election process.<\/p>\n\n\n
\n City-County<\/strong><\/td>\n State<\/strong><\/td>\n Year Consolidated<\/strong><\/td>\n # of attempts<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Chesapeake-South Norfolk–Norfolk \u00a0County<\/td>\n VA<\/td>\n 1962<\/td>\n n\/a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Virginia Beach\u2014Princess Anne County<\/td>\n VA<\/td>\n 1962<\/td>\n n\/a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Nashville\u2014Davidson County<\/td>\n TN<\/td>\n 1962<\/td>\n n\/a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Jacksonville\u2014Duval County<\/td>\n FL<\/td>\n 1967<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Juneau\u2014Greater Juneau County<\/td>\n AK<\/td>\n 1969<\/td>\n n\/a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Carson City\u2014Ormsby County<\/td>\n NV<\/td>\n 1969<\/td>\n n\/a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Indianapolis\u2014Marion County<\/td>\n IN<\/td>\n 1969<\/td>\n n\/a<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Columbus\u2014Muscogee County<\/td>\n GA<\/td>\n 1970<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Athens\u2014Clark County<\/td>\n GA<\/td>\n 1990<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Lafayette\u2014Lafayette Parish<\/td>\n LA<\/td>\n 1991<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Augusta\u2014Richmond County<\/td>\n GA<\/td>\n 1995<\/td>\n 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Kansas City \u2013 Wyandotte County<\/td>\n KS<\/td>\n 1997<\/td>\n 1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Louisville \u2013 Jefferson County<\/td>\n KY<\/td>\n 2003<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n \n\n
\n Area<\/strong><\/td>\n Status of consolidation<\/strong><\/td>\n # of attempts<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Tallahassee\u2014Leon County FL<\/td>\n Continuing<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Sacramento\u2014Sacramento \u00a0County CA<\/td>\n Unsuccessful<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Des Moines\u2014Polk County IA<\/td>\n Continuing<\/td>\n 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Wilmington\u2014New Hanover County NC<\/td>\n Continuing<\/td>\n 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Knoxville\u2014Knoxville County TN<\/td>\n Continuing<\/td>\n 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Pittsburgh\u2014Allegheny County PA<\/td>\n Discussed, no action taken [2008]<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Buffalo\u2014Erie County NY<\/td>\n Discussed, no action taken [2005]<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Natchez\u2014Adams County MS<\/td>\n Discussed, no action taken [2009]<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Macon\u2014Bibb County GA<\/td>\n Under discussion [2010]<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Peoria\u2014Peoria County IL<\/td>\n Under discussion [2010]<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n San Antonio<\/a>\u2014Bexar County TX<\/td>\n Enabling legislation introduced in state \u00a0legislature [2011]<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Evansville<\/a>-Vanderburgh County IN<\/td>\n Preliminary discussions held [2011]<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n