Case Studies of City-County Consolidation

Suzanne M. Leland, Kurt M. Thurmaier

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. This volume presents case studies of consolidation campaigns and distills the findings.

1. Introduction, Suzanne M. Leland and Kurt Thurmaier; 2. Jacksonville/Duval County, Florida, Bert E. Swanson; 3. Columbus/Muscogee County, Georgia, Arnold Fleischmann and Jennifer Custer; 4. Tallahassee/Leon County, Florida, Linda S. Johnson; 5. Sacramento/Sacramento County, California, Glen W. Sparrow; 6. Athens/Clarke County, Georgia, Dan Durning, William L. Gillespie, and Richard W. Campbell; 7. Lafayette/Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, Hunter Bacot; 8. Branch/North Branch, Minnesota, Beth Walter Honadle; 9. Des Moines/Polk County, Iowa, Paul Coates and Alfred Ho; 10. Augusta/Richmond County, Georgia, Richard W. Campbell, William L. Gillespie, and Dan Durning; 11. Wilmington/New Hanover County, North Carolina, Gary Alan Johnson; 12. Knoxville/Knox County, Tennessee, Anthony Nownes and David J. Houston; 13. Kansas City/Wyandotte County, Kansas, Suzanne M. Leland; 14. Louisville/Jefferson County, Kentucky, H.V. Savitch and Ronald K. Vogel; 15. Conclusions, Suzanne M. Leland and Kurt Thurmaier