Metropolitan Fragmentation and Metro Reform

Little BoxesCentral Argument: A Fundamental Challenge to Governing Urban Areas is the Fragmentation of Local Government Authority.

Three Key Questions

What is Metro fragmentation?

What are the 2 positions regarding metro fragmentation?

What proposals have been offered to restructure the multi-centered metropolis and deal with fragmentation?

Fragmentation: Definition

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

Fragmentation in General: Median Metro Area

Total Number of Governments: 104– Counties: 2– Cities 24– Towns, townships 16– School Districts 19– Special Districts 43

Fragmentation in Clark County: # of Governments

County 1Cities 2Villages 8Townships 10School Districts 9 (inc. CTC and CCESC)Special Districts 12 (2 Port Authorities; 2 Health Districts; Soil and Water Conservation; Transportation Coordinating Committee; 2 Conservancy Districts; Library District; 2 Parks Districts; Mental Health)

– Total # of Governments= 42

Clark County Fragmentation in Comparison to All Ohio Counties

Total Number of Taxing Districts in Clark County = 42, e.g., of 4 of our taxing districts below:– SPRINGFIELD TWP/SPRNFLD CSD – SPRINGFIELD CORP/NE LSD – SPRNGFLD CORP/CLARK-SHAWNEE LSD – SPRINGFIELD CORP/SPRNGFLD CSD

Ave. number of Taxing Districts in Ohio’s 88 Counties = 50; range=18 (Vinton)-116 (Hamilton)

Reformers (e.g., David Rusk)

Confusion in the responsibility for services (e.g., recent County Park Levy confusion!)Reductions in political scrutiny and control (undemocratic)Political UnresponsivenessDuplication of EffortInequities in revenue and policyInefficiencies, therefore most costly

Decentralists (e.g., Charles Tiebout)

Suburban residents tend to be more concerned with incremental changesEfficiency is not the only value, e.g., access and lifestyle issuesPublic Choice School of ThoughtCentralization frustrates democracyLess costly due to smaller

Annexation Strategies

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

City-County Consolidation

Only 4 have occurred involving more than 250,000Again, a Southern phenomenon: Baton Rouge—3 service zones: urban, rural, industrialReasons for success:– Some basic service has 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

Problems with traditional county government—Row officersNeed for professional management (e.g., Cuyahoga County, OH)Use of more home rule charters: Broward County, FL (Ft. Lauderdale)

Two-Tier/Federative Reform

Basic notion is that the county will work on system-maintenance services, e.g., water and sewer, transportation, libraries, while municipals will provide lifestyle services such as parks and rec, housing, etc..Miami-Dade; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Portland

Incremental Options

Metropolitan Planning: Federal incentives and the A-95 processAdvocacy PlanningCouncils of Governments (COGs)Central City decentralization (Berry, Portney, & Thomsan)One size does not fit all. States must help—how?

David Rusk

Ohio’s “Interlocking Problems”—Sprawl, Race, and Concentrated Poverty. Contribute to fragmentation and multi-centered metro areasConcentrated Poverty creates Push-Pull Factors biased toward middle-class families moving to suburban areas (Push—high crime rates, falling property values, higher tax rates in Central Cities; and Pull—opposite factors in suburbs)

Rusk (Continued)

Ohio’s “Little Box” system of local government—close to 2,400 individual units ranks Ohio in top 5.– E.g., between 1950-2000, Ohio urbanized pop grew

121%, but the amount of urbanized land expanded 305%! (Remember that sprawl is low-density development on the urban fringe).

– The more the metro regions are broken into “little boxes” the more they tend to sprawl.

Rusk Continued

So, need regional solutions with the help of the state legislature—includes:– Regional land use and transportation planning—

state law would need to mandate this.– Inclusionary zoning– Regional tax-base sharing—e.g., win-win annexation

John Kasich

Local government cooperation and consolidation– Schools are key options– What about Springfield and Clark County—next

class session.