Consolidated city-county

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In American local government, a consolidated city-county, metropolitan municipality or regional municipality is a city and county that have been merged into one jurisdiction. As such, it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation; and a county, which is an administrative division of a state. This is the opposite of an independent city, which is a city that is not located within the boundaries of any county, but is separate from the neighboring county. All cities in Virginia are independent cities, and Baltimore, Maryland; Carson City, Nevada; and St. Louis, Missouri are as well. The highest concentration of large consolidated governments in the United States is in the lower midwest and upper south, where Indianapolis, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; and Lexington, Kentucky are located.

The terms "metropolitan municipality" and "regional municipality" attempt to distinguish between a city-county containing urban areas that formerly existed as independent municipalities (New York City and Philadelphia), or a city-county containing urban, suburban and even rural areas, some of which may have never had an independent, subcounty government (e.g., Indianapolis or Jacksonville). Individual sections of a metropolitan or regional municipality may retain some autonomous jurisdiction apart from the city-wide government. New York City, for example, consists of five counties/boroughs, each of which retains certain local powers through their own borough councils and presidents.

Consolidated city-counties may also be called metropolitan governments and metropolitan counties -- however, "metropolitan county" can also refer to jurisdictions like Arlington County, Virginia, and Baltimore County, Maryland, both of which are counties that contain no incorporated municipalities.

England has six "metropolitan counties" created in 1974: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire. From 1986, they do not have County Councils but rather joint boards for certain functions. Modern unitary authorities are similar, and are known as county boroughs in Wales. In Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh are functionally "independent cities," though the term is not used.

Similar arrangements exist in other countries such as Seoul, South Korea, which is a "Special City."

Wyandotte County, Kansas, uses the term "unified government" to refer to its consolidation with Kansas City, Kansas, and most of the towns within the county boundaries in which some cities and towns remain separate jurisdictions within the county.

Often, in place of another level of government, municipalities form coalitions — essentially governmental organizations which are not empowered with any lawmaking or law enforcement powers. This is the case in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) studies and makes recommendations on the impact of all major construction and development projects on the region, but generally cannot stop them. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) is a true government agency of the state of Georgia, and does control some state transportation monies to the cities and counties, but otherwise has very little authority beyond this small power of the purse.

List of consolidated city-counties

Consolidated since their creation

• Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska^[1] (City and Borough are consolidated forming a unified government)
• City and County of Broomfield, Colorado^[2][3] (Town of Broomfield incorporated June 1, 1961. Consolidated City and County of Broomfield created November 15, 2001, from the incorporated City of Broomfield in portions of Boulder County, Adams County, Jefferson County, and Weld County.)
• City and County of Denver, Colorado^[2] (Denver City, Colorado Territory, incorporated November 7, 1861. Denver served as the Arapahoe County Seat until November 15, 1902, when Arapahoe County was split into the new consolidated City and County of Denver, the new Adams County, and the renamed South Arapahoe County.)
• City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii^[4] (however, there are no "cities" or subcounty governments in Hawaii, thus the "City" designation in "City and County" is essentially meaningless; the U.S. Census defines Honolulu as only a fraction of the "City and County")
• City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska
• New Orleans and Orleans Parish, Louisiana (officially known simply as "City of New Orleans," actually includes former parts of neighboring Jefferson Parish)
• City and County of San Francisco, California (city established before county's creation)
• City and Borough of Sitka, Alaska
• City and Borough of Yakutat, Alaska
• Nantucket, Massachusetts (The town and county of Nantucket have been one and the same since it was separated from Dukes County, New York to join the colony of Massachusetts. It should be noted that in Massachusetts a town serves the same municipal functions as a city.)

Merged

• Anaconda and Deer Lodge County, Montana^[5]
• Butte and Silver Bow County, Montana
• Columbus and Muscogee County, Georgia
• Hartsville and Trousdale County, Tennessee
• Houma and Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana^[6]
• Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky^[7]
• Lynchburg and Moore County, Tennessee
• New York City, New York^[8] has been coextensive with an amalgamation of five counties since 1898, each of which is also a borough and more popularly known as such — some, however, with a differing name (in parentheses):
  • New York County (Manhattan) (New York County alone was coextensive with New York City until 1898)
  • Bronx County (The Bronx) (New York County included what is now Bronx County from 1898 until its creation in 1916)
  • Kings County (Brooklyn)
  • Richmond County (Staten Island)
  • Queens County (Queens)
• Philadelphia and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Their borders have been conterminous since 1854, and the government structures were consolidated in 1952. The county still exists as a separate entity within Pennsylvania, but the functions of the county are generally administered by the city.

Merged with some independent municipalities

• Athens and Clarke County, Georgia (one community within Clarke County retains a separate government)
• Augusta and Richmond County, Georgia (two communities within Richmond County retain separate governments)
• Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana^[9] (four communities within Marion County retain separate governments, see Unigov)
• Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida (four cities within Duval County retain separate governments; all other rural land is incorporated by Jacksonville, preventing any annexation by them)
• Kansas City and Wyandotte County, Kansas (this "Unified Government" contains Kansas City and three other communities; a county relationship is maintained with the rest of the communities within the county)
• Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky^[10] (all cities in pre-merger Jefferson County, other than Louisville, retain separate governments, but all participate in the metropolitan government in a two-tier system)
• Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee (seven communities within Davidson County retain separate governments, although all participate in the metropolitan government in a two-tier system)
• Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
• Lafayette and Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

Five cities in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia were formed by the consolidation of a city with a county — Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach (from Norfolk, Elizabeth City, Warwick, Nansemond, and Princess Anne counties, respectively). However, in each case an independent city was created and as such they are not consolidated city-counties. Similarly, Carson City was consolidated with Ormsby County, Nevada in 1969, but the county was simultaneously dissolved. The city is now a municipality independent of any county.

Potentially consolidated

• Aurora, Colorado, split between three counties, explored the creation of a new consolidated city-county in 1996; the effort subsequently failed in a referendum. However, five years later nearby Broomfield was successful in creating a new city-county from portions of the four counties it had been a part of. Encouraged by Broomfield's experience, an Aurora city councilman has recently proposed consolidation again, which could happen as early as 2008.^[11]
• Roanoke County, Virginia and Roanoke City, Virginia held referenda in 1969 and 1989 to consolidate the two governments. Both times, city voters approved consolidation while county voters were opposed. The independent city of Salem, Virginia, which would have been surrounded by the consolidated entity, did not participate in the referenda. Vinton, Virginia would have retained its status as a town in the 1989 referendum. The consolidation issue has been dormant since 1989.
• A proposal has been made to merge Johnson County, Kansas and Wyandotte County, Kansas and the cities located in those two into a single consolidated city-county, name to be determined.^[12]
• In 2005, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio published a series of articles exploring the possibility of the city's merging with Cuyahoga County.^[13]

Considered consolidation

• Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, New Mexico^{[citation needed]}
• Buffalo and Erie County, New York^{[citation needed]}
• Charleston/North Charleston/Mount Pleasant and Charleston County, South Carolina^{[citation needed]}
• Durham and Durham County, North Carolina^[14]
• Evansville and Vanderburgh County, Indiana^[15]
• El Paso and El Paso County, Texas^[16]
• Fairbanks and Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska^[17]
• Fort Wayne and Allen County, Indiana^[18]
• Memphis and Shelby County, Tennessee^[19]
• Fayetteville and Lincoln County, Tennessee (rejected in 2002 referendum)^{[citation needed]}
• Montgomery and Montgomery County, Alabama^{[citation needed]}
• Pensacola and Escambia County, Florida^{[citation needed]}
• Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, Pennsylvania ^[20]
• Portland and Multnomah County, Oregon^{[citation needed]}
• Toledo and Lucas County, Ohio^[21]
• Topeka and Shawnee County, Kansas
• Wilmington and New Hanover County, North Carolina^[22]

Formerly consolidated

• The City of Boston and Suffolk County, Massachusetts operated with a consolidated government for most of the twentieth century, but this was not a true consolidation because three municipalities (Chelsea, Revere and Winthrop) never amalgamated with Boston but remained separate jurisdictions within Suffolk County. The special relationship between Boston and Suffolk County ended in 1999 as part of the gradual abolition of county government in that state.

References

1. ^ Website of the Municipality of Anchorage
2. ^ ^{a b} Colorado Municipal Incorporations (HTML). State of Colorado, Department of Personnel & Administration, Colorado State Archives (December 1, 2004). Retrieved on November 24, 2006.
3. ^ Website of the City and County of Broomfield
4. ^ Website of the County of Honolulu
5. ^ Website of the Community of Anaconda
6. ^ Website of Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government
7. ^ Website of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government
8. ^ Official New York City Website
9. ^ Website of Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana
10. ^ Website of Louisville Metro Government
11. ^ City and County of Aurora? by J.C. O'Connell. The Aurora Daily Sun & Sentinel, January 30, 2006.
12. ^ Johnson-Wyandotte merger? by Jesse Truesdale. The [Bonner Springs] Chieftain, February 2, 2006.
13. ^ A Region Divided. Special series of The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer, published throughout 2005.
14. ^ NCSU Innovation Online, by Diane Cherry
15. ^ Both sides say Evansville-Vanderburgh County merger is possible, by Thomas B. Langhorne. Indiana Economic Digest, February 13, 2006
16. ^ 79(R) SJR 9 in the Texas State Legislature
17. ^ [1]Alaska Division of Community Advocacy
18. ^ Debate stirs on consolidation, by Benjamin Lanka. The [Fort Wayne] Journal Gazette, March 5, 2006.
19. ^ Business Backs Consolidated Government, by Kate Miller. Memphis Business Journal, March 15, 2002.
20. ^ Town Meeting: Louisville mayor offers primer on uniting city-county government, By Jeffrey Cohan. Pittsburgh Post Gazette, October 1, 2004.
21. ^ Skepticism greets ‘Unigov’ summit, by Tom Troy. The Toledo Blade, March 4, 2004.
22. ^ NCSU Innovation Online, by Diane Cherry

See also

• Amalgamation (politics)
• Combined Statistical Area
• Ekistics
• Megalopolis (term)
• Megacity
• Metropolitan area
• Metroplex
• Metropolis

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