Dealing with a hot potato issue

Dec. 17, 2004

By SARAH KESSINGER

and CHRIS GRENZ

Harris News Service

TOPEKA - Kansas Senate Budget Chairman Steve Morris can look out the windows of one of this downtown's high-rise buildings and see five school districts sprawling across Shawnee County.

When people start talking about consolidation in Kansas, they often picture rural areas that face population declines.

But Morris, a rural lawmaker from far southwest Kansas, says the concentration of school districts in the state's more urban areas also should be on the table when merger talks arise.

However, he doesn't readily talk of more consolidation on any level.

"A lot of the districts in southwest and northwest Kansas already have one district per county," said Morris, a Hugoton Republican. "It'd be pretty difficult for more consolidation in some places unless you want students riding a bus all day long."

Whether the target is rural or urban, large or small, city-county or school districts, consolidation is one political hot potato.

It's a topic that most legislators would prefer not to touch, but instead leave to the locals.

"It's the definition of conflict," said Joe Aistrup, head of the political science department at
Kansas State University.

The state's fight to consolidate thousands of districts to slightly more than 300 back in the 1960s was an unsavory affair for many.

"It left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths," Aistrup said. "A lot of people felt it was forced upon them, and still today there's those feelings of the rural-urban split."

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But as population in rural areas continues to decline, Aistrup said, Kansas and other Plains states expect school district consolidation to resurface for debate - as well as merger talks between cities and counties.

"There will be winners and losers, and the losers will be screaming pretty loudly," Aistrup said.

It is easier for urban legislators to propose consolidation. The most contentious bills have been offered in the past decade by Rep. Bill Mason, R-El Dorado, who lives in a county adjacent to Wichita. But Mason, who is retiring, never got far with his attempts to encourage school district consolidation.

It is also difficult for statewide officeholders to support talk of mergers, Aistrup said.

"They need the rural votes to get the majorities. ... It can hurt their prospects," he said.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius believes that local governments should be able to merge without state approval.

The governor backs a bill the Kansas League of Municipalities proposed the last two years to end a requirement that cities and counties gain the Legislature's permission to merge.

Lawmakers in one part of the state shouldn't have a say in whether or not a local government elsewhere can seek efficiencies, Sebelius said.

"If there is willingness at the local level to tackle that conversation I think that's where the decision-making should be," she said. "Getting rid of the current statutory barrier would encourage more units to look at it."

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Nowhere in the country is voluntary school consolidation an easy topic for state policymakers.

"Most of the time right now, consolidation is being forced by courts," Aistrup said.

But voluntary consideration of the issue by local school boards is far more frequent, Aistrup said, in light of strained budgets both at local and state levels.

"Over the past 10 years, I've seen a dramatic shift in our willingness to talk about this," he said.

Sebelius said that a recently announced pilot project for Standard & Poor's to conduct a voluntary audit of state school efficiencies could indicate that districts can share administrators with other districts.

"I would be very enthusiastic about then trying to incorporate some financial incentives or, on the flip side, looking at financial penalties if people insisted that more of their dollars were going to be spent on what appeared to be an excessive number of administrators," Sebelius said.

Sebelius questions the benefit of consolidating districts where school closings would force students to face a long trip to a new school. She thinks people would gladly share administrators as long as they get to keep their local schools open.

"I don't ever hear people tell me, "I'm desperate we don't lose our superintendent or our assistant superintendent,' " Sebelius said. "What they say is, "We don't want our schools closed.' "

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Local governments and counties often see their mill levies remain relatively high, Aistrup said, as populations fall and counties lose their tax base.

"Basically, the situation has gotten to the point where it's almost at crisis level in some places, and as it's moved toward this threshold people have had to move to make government services viable and affordable," Aistrup said.

As a result, he said, "I think within the next 10 to 20 years we'll see significant consolidation efforts."

Urban lawmakers likely will propose them, he said, although rural legislators could be more open to them if they are viewed as tax relief.

The issue is similar throughout the Great Plains states, Aistrup observed.

Still, there is resistance to actually proposing change.

When courts address the issue, they may not specifically refer to consolidation. But judicial decisions often force the question by noting that if a system were more efficient, its funding might be adequate.

"At that point, a Legislature could be forced to deal with consolidation," Aistrup said. "So it may come sooner rather than later."

Cost is another reason lawmakers don't want to deal with consolidation. In the short term, transition to a merged government of schools or counties and cities can be expensive. And in the long run, if the tax burden is lessened for some, it may be increased for others.

Mark Peterson, an assistant professor of political science at Washburn University who has studied various forms of local government, said disputes over taxes and equity most frequently hinder city-county mergers.

"If you represent a rural constituency and you come down in favor of unification, you are essentially telling your constituents, 'Your taxes are going to go up,' " he said. "And there may be people within urban areas that have their reservations as well about expanding city government and expanding city boundaries."

For politicians, opposition to consolidation often boils down to a fear of losing power and influence. Leaders don't like giving up power, whether it's a local school superintendent who could be out of a job or elected officials facing the elimination of their positions.

 

"It's a turf issue," said Carol Marinovich, mayor and CEO of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., where she weathered considerable political risk by pushing for consolidation. "Getting politicians to support something that eliminates their elected position could be a hurdle."

Rep. Rick Rehorn, D-Kansas City, worked with Marinovich to make the unified government a reality. He echoed the mayor's belief that political power struggles were the single biggest obstacle.

"You're fighting entrenched power," he said. "A lot of people sitting in government don't want it to happen."

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Still, Aistrup says there's been a major change in the way the "C" word is viewed.

"It's a tough issue," he said. "There's a lot of pain and not a lot of immediate gain."

Despite the controversial history of consolidation, Morris said he hears more interest now among lawmakers to remove barriers faced by local governments or school districts that want to merge.

For example, some small school districts choose not to merge because they would lose low-enrollment subsidies. But lawmakers have twice passed laws that would give such districts the pre-consolidation equivalent in state aid - at least for a few years - if they carry out a merger,

The financial incentive is intended to encourage small school districts to merge voluntarily. But lawmakers still

want to leave the ultimate decision to locals.

Sen. Mark Gilstrap, D-Kansas City, works for the Unified Government and believes the city-county merger has worked well in Wyandotte County. But despite success there, he said the state shouldn't mandate such moves elsewhere.

"I hope other counties take a serious look at it and give it a go if they can, but you've got to leave it to the locals - the city folks and the county folks," he said. "They have to be able to extend the olive branch to each other and say, 'Lets take a look at this.' "

Morris, chosen earlier this month as Senate president, agreed that state lawmakers in Topeka should mostly leave it to the folks back home.

"I think maybe we could offer some incentives, specifically for schools," he said. "I don't think that there's much support to try and force consolidation of schools or cities and counties. But we certainly would encourage it where it makes sense."

 

of service has diminished.

Greeley County officials say they're not finished reining in government and spending, but they also say they have done as much as anyone else. They think the state should look to them for guidance.

There are seven governments in Greeley County, one of the smallest totals in the state. But the county still has a high per-capita rate of government because of its small population.

The county and city of Tribune share a city engineer, and they work together when it's time to purchase expensive heavy equipment. Law enforcement already has been merged, with the sheriff's office providing patrols in Tribune.

Greeley County also shares its county health nurse with its one school district, USD 200.

One of Greeley County's government agencies is its hospital, a county-owned entity that also offers health services to nearby Wallace County. Without that, Wallace County would be without medical services.

 

Less is more

Aistrup agrees that Greeley County probably has done all it can to consolidate services and save money.

But other counties could do much more, he said, specifically pointing to Ness County, which has four school districts - even though Ransom and Bazine already merged - and a population of less than 3,500.

Yet what shape consolidation would take in Kansas is anyone's guess.

Aistrup anxiously awaits a Kansas Supreme Court decision on school finance. That ruling, he said, could have as much to do with consolidation as anything.

But it will have nothing to do with counties.

"Right now, counties cannot consolidate," Aistrup said. "The boundaries are set by law."

Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., joined in 1997 to create the Unified Government of Wyandotte County. Now, Topeka and Shawnee County plan to approach the Legislature about consolidating their governments and services.

Lawrence and Douglas County have talked about a similar move. So have and Wichita and Sedgwick County.

But for county consolidation to take place, changes in state law - subject to voter referendum - are required.

As a result, it's most likely that schools will be the focus of consolidation, Aistrup thinks.

 

Changing times

Without a well-designed plan, Aistrup said consolidation simply would be harmful to the state.

"I don't see haphazard consolidation ... as being something good for Kansas taxpayers," he said. "If this is going to be good for Kansas taxpayers, there has to be some plan to it."

Even with a plan, Aistrup says there likely will be "very high short-term costs."

"Consolidation in the first few years is not going to be a pleasant reality," he said. "In the long term, it does create great effectiveness."

But it has to be well thought out.

As an example, Aistrup pointed to Hodgeman and Ford counties as possible consolidation candidates.

But, he cautioned, Hodgeman has a mill levy "out of this world."

That would mean Ford County residents could see their mill levies increase, perhaps dramatically, if the county merged with a smaller one.

"The state has to come in and provide incentives and direct it," Aistrup said.

There would be adverse effects for small governments, often the biggest employers in the county. In Greeley County, for example, the hospital, school and county are the top employers.

The loss of those jobs could foster opposition from the public. And while small counties could lose jobs, they might see lower mill levies in return.

"The county that does absorb will probably have to pay higher taxes," Aistrup said. "There's going to be a little bit of resistance to that. And there probably should be."

That's where incentives could come in.

Any plan, Aistrup said, would need to "do the least amount of damage and allow economies of scale."

 

'A silent crisis?'

George Frederickson, a professor of public administration and a member of the Policy Research Center at the University of Kansas, said it's not likely there will be a move soon to consolidate counties. Politicians aren't ready to embrace the move, he said, and there's no crisis to drive it.

"A crisis is a crisis once we notice it," he said. "You don't get change until you get an agreement that something needs fixed. If it's out there, it's a silent crisis."

Although Aistrup said he's unsure what the ideal size of a county is, the western border counties ultimately could cover three or four counties.

"To me, it depends on density of population," he said.

Frederickson sees something along the lines of scaling back the number of counties from 105 to about 25.

"That would save you a lot of money," he said.

County consolidation, Dixon thinks, won't be limited to just a couple of counties.

"When it happens, I think it will be four or more," he said.

As for schools, Dixon raised another issue entirely.

"I think we'd be perfectly happy to fund our schools on a local level," he said, something that would take the state out of the consolidation equation. "And it would cost us more money. But the folks in the larger areas don't want to fund their schools all by themselves."

Thon, the Greeley County Commission chairman, was thinking along the same lines.

"We only need 105 school districts in the state of Kansas," he said, making a reference to the number of counties in the state. "And we've got ours."