Wednesday, March 12, 2008
County Consolidation Plan Advances Out Of Kentucky House Committee
Legislation that could scale down Kentucky's large number of counties and their operational costs by allowing counties to merge passed a House committee today.
Under House Bill 603, sponsored by Rep. Ted Edmonds, D-Beattyville, two or more adjoining counties could voluntarily merge, or "consolidate", if at least 50 percent of the voters in those counties approve the merger by special election. The election, which would be paid for by the state, would be scheduled after one county initiates the consolidation process by petition or through county ordinance.
House Local Government Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Riggs, D-Jeffersontown, said the legislation could help both the counties and the state, which is often asked to fund services in smaller counties that do not have a large enough tax base to cover their costs.
"Consolidating smaller counties would be very beneficial because we expect so many of these small, sparsely populated counties to behave like a larger county in terms of services, but they can't do that," said Riggs. "Since they can't provide for those services their citizens demand, they come to the state looking for more than their fair share."
The state estimates that consolidated counties would save money in the long term under HB 603 by reducing their purchases of goods and services, retaining the option to sell or lease county buildings in the former county seats, eliminating the need for all but one fiscal court, reducing the number of elected officials in the former counties, and consolidation of tax revenue.
Kentucky has 120 counties, the third largest number of counties in the nation behind Texas and Georgia.
Under House Bill 603, sponsored by Rep. Ted Edmonds, D-Beattyville, two or more adjoining counties could voluntarily merge, or "consolidate", if at least 50 percent of the voters in those counties approve the merger by special election. The election, which would be paid for by the state, would be scheduled after one county initiates the consolidation process by petition or through county ordinance.
House Local Government Committee Chairman Rep. Steve Riggs, D-Jeffersontown, said the legislation could help both the counties and the state, which is often asked to fund services in smaller counties that do not have a large enough tax base to cover their costs.
"Consolidating smaller counties would be very beneficial because we expect so many of these small, sparsely populated counties to behave like a larger county in terms of services, but they can't do that," said Riggs. "Since they can't provide for those services their citizens demand, they come to the state looking for more than their fair share."
The state estimates that consolidated counties would save money in the long term under HB 603 by reducing their purchases of goods and services, retaining the option to sell or lease county buildings in the former county seats, eliminating the need for all but one fiscal court, reducing the number of elected officials in the former counties, and consolidation of tax revenue.
Kentucky has 120 counties, the third largest number of counties in the nation behind Texas and Georgia.
# posted by Joe Kinzer @ 11:04 PM 
