Population declines contribute to renewed discussion on consolidation

Dec. 10, 2004 PM

Mike Corn

The Hays Daily News

TRIBUNE - When it comes time to discuss government consolidation, Greeley County officials think state leaders should take a trip to the least-populated county in the state to see what's already been done.

"Their answer is, 'Gee, it's a long way out there,' " said Wade Dixon, who serves as Greeley County attorney, Tribune city attorney and the attorney for Greeley County Schools USD 200.

Dixon said that Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, elected in 2002, has not visited Greeley County. And former Gov. Bill Graves, who spent eight years in office, only visited the county twice.

"Our population is so small they don't need to be concerned with us," Dixon said.

Just how small?

Greeley County, with 1,420 residents, according to 2003 population estimates, is the least populated county in the state.

And, like many other rural Kansas counties, Greeley is losing population - 13.5 percent in the 10 years before the 2000 Census. In the three years since, the county has lost another 7.4 percent of its population.

Rural population loss is at least partly responsible for renewed discussions about consolidation of government and services, said Joe Aistrup, chairman of the political science department at Kansas State University and former director of the Docking Institute at Fort Hays State University.

"There is a subtle movement afoot ... that Kansas will go through another bout of consolidation," Aistrup said. "Part of that is because of the population declines."

The goal, he said, is to make government less burdensome. There is little organized talk of consolidation, but state officials no longer shy from using the "C" word.

 

The cost of government

Greeley County is just a speck in the mix of governments in the state.

"Kansas likes little governments," Aistrup said. "But a lot of it."

Even though the state is 32nd on the list of states in terms of total population, it ranks fifth in the number of local governments, according to the 2002 census of governments conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

In effect, there is one government agency for every 691 residents in the state. That comes at a huge cost: Nearly $17 billion for state and local government. Of that, nearly $5.5 billion is for schools.

That amounts to $6,219 for every resident of Kansas.

It doesn't stop there. Education has nearly $3.1 billion in debt, while state and local governments hold another $9 billion in debt, according to the Census Bureau. That's $4,496 for every Kansas resident.

 

Downsizing

Greeley County Commission Chairman Mike Thon said he gets a bit protective when state officials start talking consolidation.

"How much money are they going to save?" he asked.

Dixon said that lawmakers also need to consider another issue.

"The amount of distance we would have to travel makes it impractical to consolidate," he said.

When the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services merged offices, Greeley County lost a couple jobs, and Dixon contends the level 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."