Metropolitan Fragmentation and Metropolitan Reform

Three Key Questions n What are the 2 positions regarding metro reform? n Does local government fragmentation drive up the costs of government? n What proposals have been offered to restructure the multi-centered metropolis?

Fragmentation: Definition n The Proliferation of Local Governments in a Geographic Region (4 forms). –Increased # of Incorporated Communities –Overlapping of city and county functions –Existence of special districts –Extension of cross-state boundaries in MSA without concern for state lines

Scrap the System and Start Over: Centralization n Confusion in the responsibility for services n Reductions in political scrutiny and control (undemocratic) n Political Unresponsiveness n Duplication of Effort n Inequities in revenue and policy n Inefficiencies, therefore most costly

Metro Governance Without Metro Gov’t: Decentralization n Suburban residents tend to be more concerned with incremental changes n Efficiency is not the only value, e.g., access. n Public Choice School of Thought n Centralization frustrates democracy n Less costly due to smaller units

Annexation Strategies n Most prevalent prior to WWI, but became harder due to stringent state laws requiring simultaneous majorities n Largely a Southern and Southwestern phenomenon (extraterritorial jurisdiction, and spoke/finger annexation—Houston)

City-County Consolidation n Only 5 have occurred involving more than 250,000 since the early 1900s n Again, a Southern phenomenon: Baton Rouge—3 service zones: urban, rural, industrial n Reasons for success: –Some basic service were not being provided, or had broken down –Special political factors (corruption—Jacksonville, unpopular politicians—Nashville, significant change in partisan leadership—Indianapolis) –Small Number of incorporated suburbs

Strengthening Urban County Government n Problems with traditional county government—Row officers n Need for professional management n Use of more home rule charters: Broward County, FL (Ft. Lauderdale)

Two-Tier/Federative Reform n Basic notion is that the county will work on system-maintenance services and municipals will provide lifestyle services. n Miami-Dade; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Portland

Development of an Intellectual Challenge to Reform n Charles Lindblom: concept of informal structures of cooperation and “mutual adaptation” n Donald Chisholm: Coordination Without Hierarchy (BART) n Charles Tiebout: “voting with feet” –Hirsch: “Exit, Voice, Loyalty”

Evidence for Tiebout Sorting? n Ken Bickers and Richard Engstrom –Atlanta and Houston Metro Areas –Monte Carlo Simulations –Null H: jurisdictional boundaries are randomly drawn around sets of households without respect to the set of collective goods provided by the jurisdictions.