On Tuesday March 10, 2026, the county commission approved a straw poll vote on the ballet for this election cycle. For clarity, a straw poll is to assess the interest of the community. This does not mean that a majority vote will result in consolidation but what it would accomplish is a direction for our county commissioners to explore the logistics of consolidation.
In December we made a social media post series discussing some studies we read through. We also included some comments, questions and discussions we’ve had with our neighbors. Here we took the time to compile the information for republishing in light of the straw poll vote.
Neighbors’ Voices
We collected various perspectives from neighbors on this topic through social media comments and conversations with neighbors. This topic appears to have some of the highest fluctuations in neighbor opinions- even more so than the TMH sale.
Neighbors expressing a desire for consolidation listed reasons of wanting a reduction in costs, less duplicative services, fewer officials, and improved harmony. Neighbors opposing consolidation stated concerns of having less representation, less peer accountability, and a threat to home-rule.
Neighbors on both sides of the table present educated reasons. When we are all sitting down at the same table it’s perfectly acceptable for us to all bring our own perspectives with or without studies and data. However, we always strive to bring in more information so that we can have a more well-rounded understanding- especially on a topic which has a diverse public opinion.
Reduction In Duplicative Services and Reduction In Costs, or Increase In Costs?
The reason for consolidation mentioned the most was to reduce duplicative services and by reducing the duplicative services there would be a reduction in costs. Logically, this argument makes the most sense. However, the historical evidence we found reveals this may not be the case.
Pat Hardy1 (Hardy, 2019) writes in a journal titled “The Pros and Cons of Consolidated Government” that there are multiple studies showing mixed results for a reduction on costs. Hardy realizes efficiency is only in certain cases. “what this probably means is that in order for efficiencies to occur, the ‘system’ must be actively and very well managed.”
The Citizens research Council of Michigan2 (Michigan, 2020) highlights an interesting pattern between when the governments were consolidated and the success rate of the consolidation. They remark on the success of consolidation of governments in 1982 and 2000 and juxtapose those with the failure of more recent governmental consolidation.
Both Citizen Research Council of Michigan and Hardy conclude that the best method of reducing duplicative services is through interlocal agreements or consolidation of services. The both note expanded services through consolidation, however, those same studies indicate interlocal agreements (like our fire services) are accomplishing expanded services effectively and efficiently.
Laure L. Payne, PhD3 (Payne, n.d.) asserts that Jacksonville, Florida and Louisville, Kentucky are examples of mergers with no measurable increase in efficiency (maximizing the output of public services) but did improve financial status (budget). However, Joshua Hall4 (Hall; Matti; Zhou, 2017) conclude in their study that success depends on the examination time as well as how success is measures. They conclude consolidation does not guarantee economic development.
Success of Municipalities
The success of municipalities really depends on what we want from our governments. We have heard some neighbors express fear that a consolidated government would lead to lack of representation. In fact, we are currently hearing neighbors express feelings of being unheard and not represented in the city.
However, many studies find that residents feel like they have less representation after a municipal merger. Pat Hardy and Chris Shilts’ study5 (Hardy; Shilts, 2021) states “the first hypothesis, that citizens who are served by a large metropolitan government will be more satisfied with services than will citizens who are served by a small municipality, was not supported by the data.” In their study they show that Nashville-Davidson county shows that citizens believe their local were more concerned about their neighborhood in the smaller jurisdiction than in the consolidated jurisdiction. There is also significantly higher levels of satisfaction when requesting action from public officials in the neighborhoods of the smaller jurisdiction.
We also want to expand our research to the communities that have experienced consolidation and hear from our neighbors in those communities. Luckily Jacksonville’s Task Force on Consolidated Government6 (Survey) performed and published a public input survey. The neighbors express “loss of local control/identity and lack of community; each part of town feels forgotten, downtown feels that all the money and decisions are made to benefit the suburbs, and the suburbs feel that all the money and effort are spent on downtown development; the city is too big, it seems many feel this because they don’t receive the services they feel they should.”
Define Success
Ultimately, we have to consider what our community feels is “success.” Some neighbors express economic development, others have expressed more family-friendly amenities. There has also been discussions about a better airport. I believe all those things go hand in hand. Families who have places to explore and go will spend more money here, rather than saving up for a vacation. Surrounding counties will take day trips to “go into the city” to explore the vibrant downtown. The more people are spending and exploring, the more we can begin to develop mindfully with our community needs in the forefront. Lastly, our city stops being a rest stop on the way to a destination and starts to become the destination. When our city becomes the destination, then the need for flights will increase and the success of the airport will take off. No one wants to take a plane to “the middle of no where.”
All our neighbors have a unified goal. We want a community that we don’t merely exist in but instead feel a sense of identity and community in. We want neighborhoods we can live in and also enjoy amenities and services in. We want a community that our kids will learn in, grow in, and be safe in. We may have different ideas of how to achieve our goal, and this is where intentional conversations matter. We have to move with intentionality and every choice we make has to be made to advance us closer to that goal. We hear our neighbors express feelings of paying too much and not receiving services. We hear our neighbors express feeling like the city is ignoring them and feeling as if they don’t have representation. Many of our team members have expressed similar concerns. Unfortunately, the studies we found don’t support any remedy to these issues.
So this election cycle we should need to be diligent in electing good candidates for all our governing bodies. We are worthy of excellent public education, a leading county, and a city that prioritizes our neighbors’ concerns.
We are better together and this year we have the opportunity to change our government and the trajectory of our neighborhoods.
- Pat Hardy, 2019, The Pros and Cons of Consolidated Government, 1-9. https://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/…/Hardy_pros_cons_consol… ↩︎
- The Citizens Research Council of Michigan, Government Consolidation: A Historically Unpopular Solution to Local Fiscal Strain, https://crcmich.org/government-consolidation-a… ↩︎
- (Payne, n.d.) Laura L. Payne, PhD, Advantages and Disadvantages of Local Government Consolidation, 1-2. https://rst.illinois.edu/…/Local-Government-Considation… ↩︎
- Hall, Joshua; Matti, Josh; and Zhou, Yang, “The Economic Impact of City-County Consolidations: A Synthetic Control Approach” (2017). Economics Faculty Working Papers Series. 35. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/econ_working-papers/35 ↩︎
- Pat Hardy MTAS, Chris Shilts PhD, MTAs, 2021, The Consolidation of city and County Governments: A Look at the History and Outcome-based Research of These Efforts, 1-14 https://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/…/MTAS%20Consolidation… ↩︎
- Public Input Survey Answers, Task Force on Consolidated Government, question 2, https://www.jacksonville.gov/…/2013-12-05… ↩︎
