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NEWS FEATURES | Vol. 8, No. 6, February 14, 2008
(The Urge to Merge)
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38 City-County Consolidations


City-county consolidation remains a rare occurrence with just 38 in existence out of the 3,043 county governments in the nation. The last major city to successfully unify was Louisville, Ky., in 2000. At the time, it was the first major city to consolidate since Jacksonville in 1967.

The consolidation vote in Pensacola and Escambia County drew 40,188 voters to the ballot boxes in November 1970. An overwhelming 75 percent rejected unifying the city and county governments into a single entity.

In Florida, 14 unsuccessful attempts have been made since the Jacksonville-Duval County merger in 1967. Among those attempts, Tallahassee and Leon County have failed four times, Gainesville and Alachua County three times and Tampa and Hillsborough County twice.

What are the 38 City-County Consolidations in the United States?

By state legislative decision:
New Orleans-Orleans Parish, La. 1805
Boston-Suffolk County, Mass. 1821
Nantucket Town-Nantucket County, Mass. 1821
Philadelphia-Philadelphia County, Pa. 1854
San Francisco-San Francisco County, Calif. 1856
New York City-(5 Counties), N.Y. 1874/1898
Denver-Denver County, Colo. 1902
Honolulu-Honolulu County, Hawaii 1907
Indianapolis-Marion County, Ind. 1969
Broomfield-Broomfield, Colo 1998

By voter referendum:
Baton Rouge-East Baton Rouge Parish, La. 1947
Hampton and Phoebus-Elizabeth City County, Va. 1952
Newport News-Warwick County, Va. 1957
Nashville-Davidson County, Tenn. 1962
South Norfolk-Norfolk County, Va. 1962
Virginia Beach-Princess Anne County, Va. 1962
JACKSONVILLE-DUVAL COUNTY, FLA. 1967
Carson City-Ormsby County, Nev. 1969
Juneau and Douglas-Greater Juneau Borough, Alaska 1969
Columbus-Muscogee County, Ga. 1970
Sitka-Greater Sitka Borough, Alaska 1971
Holland and Whaleyville-Nansemond County, Va. 1971
Lexington-Fayette County, Ky. 1972
Suffolk-Nansemond County, Va. 1972
Anchorage, glen Alps and Girdwood-Greater Anchorage Area Borough, Alaska 1975
Anaconda-Deer Lodge County, Mont. 1976
Butte-Silver Bow County, Mont. 1976
Houma-Terrebonne Parish, La. 1981
Lynchburg-Moore County, Tenn. 1987
Athens-Clarke County, Ga. 1990
Yakutat-Yakutat Borough, Alaska 1992
Lafayette-Lafayette Parish, La. 1992
Augusta-Richmond County, Ga. 1995
Kansas City-Wyandotte County, Kan. 1997
Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky. 2000
Hartsville-Trousdale County, Tenn. 2000
Haines City-Haines Borough, Alaska 2002
Cusseta City-Chattahoochee County, Ga. 2003

Source: "Lessons From 35 Years of City-County Consolidation Attempts," by Suzanne M. Leland, University of North Carolina at Charlotte and Kurt Thurmaier, Iowa State University, published in Municipal Year Book in 2006

















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