U.S. local jurisdiction comprising a merged city and county
In United States local government, a consolidated city-county (also known as either a city-parish or a consolidated government in Louisiana, depending on the locality,[1] or a consolidated city-borough in Alaska) is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county (parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is a type of unitary authority that has the governmental powers of both a municipal corporation and a county.[2]
A consolidated city-county is different from an independent city, although the latter may result from consolidation of a city and a county and may also have the same powers as a consolidated city-county. An independent city is a city not deemed by its state to be located within the boundary of any county and considered a primary administrative division of its state.[3] A consolidated city-county differs from an independent city in that the city and county both nominally exist, although they have a consolidated government, whereas in an independent city, the county does not even nominally exist.[2] Furthermore, a consolidated city-county may still contain independent municipalities maintaining some governmental powers that did not merge with the rest of the county.[4]
Not considering Hawaii, which has no independent municipalities, the Midwest and Upper South have the highest concentration of large consolidated city-county governments in the United States, including Indianapolis, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Kansas City, Kansas; and Lexington, Kentucky. The largest consolidated city-county in the United States by population is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while the largest by land area is Sitka, Alaska.
Overview
Consolidated city-counties are typically formed to address particular government challenges. Among the benefits of having a unified jurisdiction include potential cost savings, more efficiency, increased legal powers and revenue sources, and a more streamlined planning system.[2]
Most consolidated city-counties have a single chief executive who acts as both the city mayor and as the head of the county government, and a multi-district elected body that serves as both the city council and as the county legislative body.[2]
In many states, consolidated city-counties must be approved by voters.[2] According to information compiled by former Albuquerque mayor David Rusk, 105 referendums were held in the United States between 1902 and 2010 to consider proposals to consolidate cities and counties. Only 27 of these proposals were approved by voters.[5]
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 remain separate jurisdictions within the county. Individual sections of a metropolitan or regional municipality may retain some autonomous jurisdiction apart from the citywide government.
Often, in place of another level of government, local governments form councils of governments – essentially governmental organizations which are not empowered with any law-making 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 funding to the cities and counties, but otherwise has very little authority beyond this small power of the purse.
The case of New York City is unique, in that the city consists of five boroughs, each of which is co-extensive with a county. Each has its own district attorney; however, county-level government is essentially non-existent as all executive and legislative power is exercised by the city government throughout the five boroughs. The city, as currently constituted, was created in 1898 when the city of New York (then comprising what would become the boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx) annexed Kings County, Queens County, and Richmond County as the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, respectively.
International equivalents
Similar unitary authority arrangements also exist in other countries. England has six "metropolitan counties" created in 1974: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands, and West Yorkshire. From 1986, these metropolitan counties 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, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow are functionally "independent cities", though the term is not used. London is unique however, being a ceremonial county (officially known as Greater London) containing the 32 London boroughs. Enclaved within Greater London, the ancient City of London forms a distinct county, which today forms only a tiny part of what most consider to be London as a capital city, which takes up 607 square miles.
The Canadian province of Ontario contains several single-tier municipalities, which serve the same sort of functions as American consolidated city-counties. One example is the City of Toronto, created in 1998 from the amalgamation of the central government and the six constituent municipalities of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (a type of regional municipality), itself originally created in 1954.
In Germany, Berlin and Hamburg are both cities and states (the state of Bremen consists of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven). Nearly every larger city in Germany is an independent city, like Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich or Dresden; Austria, where the capital of Vienna is both a city and state; France, where the capital city of Paris has been coterminous with the département of Paris since 1968; and South Korea, where Seoul is a special city, while six other cities (Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, and Ulsan) are metropolitan cities. Additionally, the Australian Capital Territory government in Australia performs all municipal functions of the city of Canberra, and thus functions as an integrated city-territory. Similarly, the City of Tokyo merged with the prefecture to form Tokyo metropolis in 1943.
Balances
In nine consolidated city-county governments in the United States, the formerly independent incorporated places maintain some governmental powers. In these cities, which the United States Census Bureau calls "consolidated cities", statistics are recorded both for the entire consolidated government and for the component municipalities. A part of the consolidated government is called the "balance", which the Census Bureau defines as "the consolidated city minus the semi-independent incorporated places located within the consolidated city".[4]
In Georgia, consolidations often required multiple attempts, changes in procedures, and different local laws in the state legislature. They often did not include some smaller jurisdictions. They also retained characteristics of both types of government, e.g, a sheriff as required by the Georgia Constitution. ][6]
These consolidated cities are:[4]
- Athens–Clarke County, Georgia
- Augusta–Richmond County, Georgia
- Butte–Silver Bow County, Montana
- Indianapolis–Marion County, Indiana
- Jacksonville–Duval County, Florida
- Kansas City, Kansas–Wyandotte County, Kansas
- Louisville–Jefferson County, Kentucky
- Macon–Bibb County, Georgia
- Nashville–Davidson County, Tennessee
List of consolidated city-counties
Consolidated since their creation
- Municipality of Anchorage, Alaska[7] (City and Borough are consolidated forming a unified government)
- City and County of Broomfield, Colorado[8][9] (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, Adams, Jefferson, and Weld Counties.)
- City and County of Denver, Colorado[8] (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 Adams County and the renamed South Arapahoe County. Denver was split from the two new counties on December 1, 1902.[10])
- City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii[11][12]
- City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska
- Menominee, Wisconsin, a town coterminous with Menominee County, Wisconsin
- Town and County of Nantucket, Massachusetts (one and the same since it was separated from Dukes County, New York to join the colony of Massachusetts). In New England a town serves the same municipal functions as a city. Contrary to city–county consolidation, eight of Massachusetts' 14 county governments have been abolished.
- City of New Orleans and Orleans Parish, Louisiana (The City of New Orleans has always served as Orleans Parish's government, though they initially were not coterminous. The city and parish have also annexed parts of neighboring Jefferson Parish.)
- City and County of San Francisco, California (The City of San Francisco was the seat of San Francisco County until 1856, when the county was split into the consolidated City and County of San Francisco in the north, with the remainder of old San Francisco County becoming the new County of San Mateo.)
- City and Borough of Sitka, Alaska
- City and Borough of Yakutat, Alaska
- City and Borough of Wrangell, Alaska
- Municipality and Borough of Skagway, Alaska
Merged
- Anaconda and Deer Lodge County, Montana[13]
- Butte and Silver Bow County, Montana
- Columbus and Muscogee County, Georgia
- Cusseta and Chattahoochee County, Georgia
- Georgetown and Quitman County, Georgia
- Haines and Haines Borough, Alaska
- Hartsville and Trousdale County, Tennessee (Despite the consolidated city-county government, Hartsville is not coterminous with Trousdale County; Hartsville remains a geographically distinct municipality within the county.[14])
- Houma and Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana[15] (Despite the consolidated city-parish government, Houma is not coterminous with Terrebonne Parish; Houma remains a geographically distinct municipality within the parish.[14])
- Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky[16]
- Los Alamos and Los Alamos County, New Mexico Town of Los Alamos consolidated with county of the same name in 1969 [17]
- Lynchburg and Moore County, Tennessee
- Macon (and Payne) with Bibb County, Georgia[18][19][20][21][22]
- Philadelphia and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania – Their borders have been conterminous since 1854 Act of Consolidation, 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.
- Preston and Webster County, Georgia[19]
- Statenville and Echols County, Georgia[19]
Other
Merged with some independent municipalities
- Athens and Clarke County, Georgia (the cities of Winterville, which is entirely within Clarke County, and Bogart, which is partially within the county, retain separate governments)
- Augusta and Richmond County, Georgia (two communities within Richmond County retain separate governments)
- Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana (three communities within East Baton Rouge Parish – Baker, Central and Zachary – retain separate governments. In addition, the City of Baton Rouge retains separate city limits, and its official census population only includes this area)
- Camden County, North Carolina (county with no incorporated municipalities, apart from a small portion of Elizabeth City, re-organizing into a single unified government)[24]
- Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana[25] (four communities within Marion County retain separate governments: see Unigov)
- Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida (four incorporated places within Duval County – the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach and the town of Baldwin – retain separate governments; all other rural land is incorporated by Jacksonville and so the entire county is incorporated)
- Kansas City and Wyandotte County, Kansas (this "Unified Government" contains Kansas City, Edwardsville, most of Bonner Springs, and roughly half of Lake Quivira; a county relationship is maintained with the rest of the communities within the county) as of 1997.
- Lafayette, Louisiana and Lafayette Parish (In December 2018 voters amended the city-parish charter to split what was a single consolidated city-parish council into two councils — one to represent only the city of Lafayette and the other to represent the parish. The impetus for the change was the desire of city voters to take more control of city-related matters and general unease with the consequences of consolidation).
- Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky[26] (all cities in pre-merger Jefferson County, other than Louisville, retain separate identities and some governmental functions, but all participate fully in the county-wide governing body, Louisville Metro Council)
- Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee (six communities within Davidson County retain separate governments, although all participate in the metropolitan government in a two-tier system)
- Petersburg Borough, Alaska (When the borough was created in 2013, the city of Petersburg was dissolved. However, the city of Kupreanof remains a separate entity within the borough.)
- Tribune, Kansas and Greeley County, Kansas (Horace retaining a separate government)[27]
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. Instead, the Code of Virginia uses the term "consolidated city."[2][28] 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.[2]
