Voters: Let them know your views
County commissioners need to be told they represent Salina voters
By TOM BELL
Editor & Publisher
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The
League of Women Voters of Salina, again, deserves cheers for its
efforts to examine potential benefits of full or partial consolidation
of city and county governments. Members have been involved in forums
and surveys to determine citizen interest in the topic. Now the league
wants to discuss a potential task force to study consolidation.
Members will make their case at a joint meeting of the Salina
City Commission and Saline County commission at 4 p.m. Thursday in Room
107B of the City-County Building. While we applaud these efforts we also recognize that the
league faces several familiar roadblocks that discourage efforts to
even study the question of consolidation.
The Kansas Legislature stands in the way of city-county
consolidation by demanding consolidation ballot questions pass a
so-called dual majority. This requirement means that those living
outside the city limits must approve the consolidation question, and
those inside the city limits must approve it also.
That pretty much sets a consolidation proposal up for defeat
because rural residents fear, understandably, that consolidation will
spoil their way of life. Dual majority also allows 15 percent of county
voters to overrule the 85 percent of county voters living inside city
limits.
Another roadblock is the county commission, which shows little
enthusiasm for studying potential benefits of full or partial
consolidation. There also is foot-dragging on moving forward with
merging more county and city functions, like planning, engineering and
human resources.
Additionally, there is little movement to combine city and
county benefit programs, like medical insurance. Rates tend to drop
when more employees are enrolled in one plan.
These opportunities were discussed in January 2006 in the
first-ever joint meeting between the city and county commissions where
consolidation was discussed, but little or nothing has been done in the
meantime.
Voters and taxpayers within the Salina's city limits continue
to pay taxes to both city and county governments for duplication of
services. We encourage city residents to call county commissioners and
remind them that they represent those living both inside and outside
Salina's city limits. Remind them it is their responsibility to pursue
every possible avenue for making local government more efficient,
including merging more city and county functions.
©Salina Journal
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