CINCINNATI -Suburban Anderson Township takes pride in the services it offers its 43,000 residents but draws the line at funding its own police department.
Another suburb takes the opposite view, refusing to give up its 28-person taxpayer-financed force.
People can drive up here and talk to the chief
said Delhi Township Administrator Joseph Morency. That wouldn't be possible in some regionalized police department.
The sharing of government services by different communities is as old as the republic itself, from joint fire departments to school districts spread across several towns.
With budgets tight and state revenue limited, at least a dozen states are exploring ways to consolidate further, with mixed results.
In Ohio, counties and townships are considering lawmakers' carrot-and-stick approach to ease the pain of Gov. Bob Taft's proposed cuts in state aid.
The cut would be reduced by half -to 10 percent -for counties willing to work toward consolidation of services. Townships -whose funding would be cut by 10 percent -could qualify for state aid to study consolidation.
Bigger is not always better but if there is a chance to consolidate services and improve efficiency then we need to look at the ways that could be done
said Rep. Larry Flowers, a suburban Columbus Republican pushing the measure.
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson and state lawmakers disagreed on whether township approval would be needed to combine township fire departments in Marion County. Peterson said that would put the decision in the hands of those who could lose their jobs under consolidation. Lawmakers did agree that the sheriff and police departments could be merged only with the approval of the City-County Council.
The battle doesn't end here
said Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell The battle ends when it happens.
In Minnesota, the city of St. Cloud is in three counties, which means there are duplicate social services and varying standards for things such as property zoning, said Democratic State Rep. Joe Opatz. He has proposed a bill that would allow the counties to modify their boundaries, leaving St. Cloud in just one of the three.
The county lines are based on a 19th century model that was created when the city was a different place
Opatz said.
St. Cloud Mayor John Ellenbecker doesn't completely agree with that solution but also thinks that the current situation is inefficient.
We have seven cities
five police departments and three sheriff's offices providing law enforcement for 120
000 people
Ellenbecker said. Finding a way to eliminate duplication of facilities and bureaucracy would be a real advantage to taxpayers.
More local governments are interested in consolidation in the face of federal and state funding cutbacks and taxpayer revolts, said Kurt Thurmaier, a political science professor at Iowa State University in Ames who co-edited a collection of case studies on city-county consolidations. But legislatures' attempts to redraw local government boundaries from the top down rarely succeed.
Another method is for legislatures to give cities and counties more home rule and allow them to reconfigure their structures the way they want
he said. This provides more flexibility
and chances are that if they start debating changes
