TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – Leon County Commissioners are studying the idea of having just one local government instead of one for the city limits and one for more rural areas.
County staff generated a memo outlining the potential positives and negatives of consolidation.
If both were fully consolidated, the City of Tallahassee and Leon County governments would become one, similar to Jacksonville and Duval County.
That would mean one police force, for example, and might save taxpayers some money by not having two separate departments for legal, HR, etc.
“A pro for consolidation is getting rid of all the costly duplication of services,” Former Mayor Dot Inman-Johnson said.
It’s a natural question for Tallahassee, since there’s just one city and one county that already share a lot of services, like a planning department.
But a Florida State University urban policy professor said consolidation is not a solution to all problems.
“And so there have been cases of very successful consolidations and then there have been cases of disasters, and the ones that have really locked in much more inefficiency and less effectiveness,” Samuel R. Staley, director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center, said.
Staley said there can be benefits, but it’s a political bargaining between local commissioners, the legislature, and — most importantly — the voters.
“Ultimately, any city-county consolidation is a bargain. It’s negotiated; it’s a bargaining process. So, the two parties aren’t on the same page, you might as well not do it, don’t even spend the time,” he said.
Staley said the success would also depend on the plan itself.
“So, my recommendation would be if we think that there are areas where the city and the county can consolidate certain services, let’s first work on those and start, and then not think about general consolidation,” Samuel R. Staley, director of the DeVoe L. Moore Center, said.
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According to the staff memo, potential benefits include economic development potential and streamlined decision-making.
But cons could include loss of local control and administrative challenges.
Inman-Johnson served on the city commission, including as mayor, during the last consolidation discussions. She was against consolidation then, but has changed her mind.
“The county was not tuned in to municipal issues, and I didn’t think they would do right by us. The whole perspective has changed,” Inman-Johnson said.
Even with the new staff memo, consolidation becoming a reality is still a long way off. Next week’s agenda item is only a status report, and there are several other steps before voters would have a chance to decide on consolidation.
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