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Consolidation of the Griffin and Spalding County governments appeared on voter ballets twice, once in 1991 and again in 1997. Though the proposal failed both times, the issue of consolidation is mentioned frequently in various public forums and discussions. The National Association of Counties does not show data for the 1997 vote, but just over 30 percent of voters were in favor of consolidation in 1991.
Five months ago Wayne Esarove, a Hampton resident, submitted a letter to the Griffin Daily News that read, “In light of the recent meeting between the Griffin and Spalding Boards of Commissioners regarding the swap of responsibilities, I would like to once again bring up the dreaded ‘C’ word. To have multiple governments in a county the size of Spalding is economically and administratively inefficient and wasteful…We are already partway there with the water and wastewater and school systems. If the switch discussed at the meeting takes place, then waste and garbage collection and parks and recreation will be another step toward consolidation. Why not make the big leap instead of moving in that direction bit by bit?”
Several other Georgia cities and counties have passed consolidation proposals, including Athens-Clarke County, which merged in 1990 after three past failed votes to push the consolidation through.
Griffin and Spalding County already work closely together to provide several services, such as stormwater management, water and wastewater, the airport and most city parks are maintained by Spalding County Parks and Recreation. A merger in the city and county governments would involve an elected governing board and the merger of administrative departments and offices, though there are no hard and fast rules for consolidation.
County Commissioner Raymond Ray said that he would not be opposed to a city-county government merger, if the tax payers wanted it, but mentioned that Spalding County has two other cities, Sunnyside and Orchard Hill, and their needs to consider as well. “’Sandbox’ mentality has hurt government structure, planning, competition and other governments,” Ray continued.
Though common sense and practical economics would suggest that consolidation of city and county services and departments would be more efficient and economical, evidence from consolidation experiences in other Georgia areas suggests otherwise, particularly the Athens-Clarke merger.
In a survey of academic experts performed by the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, “the academic experts were near consensus (70 percent or higher) that that a city-county consolidation generally would: improve the technical efficiency of services provided; improve economic development; reduce urban-suburban inequalities; encourage uniform service provision; not reduce taxes; not reduce public employee satisfaction.”
A survey of government employees in Athens-Clarke County 30 months after their merger concluded that most employees (who responded to the survey) “view the merged government to be inferior to the separate governments and to be performing below their expectations.”
A large problem associated with the merger, as described in the survey, centered around the consolidation of city and county pay scales. Many county employees made less than their city employee counterparts, and their salaries were raised for equalization. There is also a suggestion that having two local governments actually creates competition and keeps prices on services lower.
A common thread throughout consolidation research and reports is that effective implementation is critical to the success of the merger. “Planning of how to execute the new system of local government should be very careful and extensive…” wrote one Winnepeg administrator about their consolidation with surrounding cities.
City manager Kenny Smith said he did not want to speculate on whether another merger referendum would occur in Spalding County, but did mention that in recent years, Georgia has seen a trend quite the opposite of government consolidation, exemplified by the small cities forming around Atlanta such as Sandy Springs and Chattahoochee Hills. “The tendency now is those people who feel like they’re not getting the bang for their buck from the county government are chartering their own cities,” he said.
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