Las Vegas and Clark County - unification

Epcot: I had read somewhere, in a Disney coffee table book, that the topic of voter rights came up while Walt was still alive.

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Vegas: When I mentioned taxes, I was really referring to casino gambling taxes. I.E. A separate tax that only affects casinos. Sure, property taxes can be thrown in the mix, but....

Quote: Croupier

As a non US Citizen, the question I have to ask is "Would it make any difference?"

What would be the various benefits or downfalls of any such potential merger. As I dont really understand it I would love to know more.

I don't know how it works in other countries but here in the USA we developed a state/county/city system of government. States are usually understandable to foreigners but the county/city thing goes way back. And different states treat counties differently.

Here in the east, counties keep the records of land ownership and regulate what is too big for the city but too small for the state. Most counties have many divisions under names line city, borough, village, coropration, town, township, etc. In the east this goes way back to when a settlement had enough people to take care of "local" issues. Local police, building codes, and schools were handled locally. "Local Pride" runs deep because people like their small-town culture. Most counties are fairly large geographically.

When you get to the middle of the USA and places like Kansas, Nebraska, etc, counties are smaller geographically but fewer "towns." There the county handles almost everything. When I call to get property tax info I almost never have to call the township.

Then west of the rockies it changes again. In places like AZ counties are huge geographically and so are the cities in comparrison to back east. Then again, so are the states. Conties still handle more "local" issues as well.

Now that I exlained how a watch works when you asked for the time, here is why it is important. Way back the city was only so big but the county was larger. (New York is the only city I know of that is larger than its five counties. Tearkana is the only city in more than one state.) The county covered the "sticks" where few people lived before WWII, espically in the west. As the USA became suburban the wealthy moved out of the "city" to a borough or unincorporated area and let the county run things.

So you get a drain of the highest taxpayers but leave behind those taking up the most government services. Cities in the USA are going broke while their neighbors get accused of commuting to them to work but paying no taxes. Soon the mayor of a city says, "lets merge!"

As an out-of-city resident I won't usually want this. My schools are probably better and crime is likely lower. No incentive to merge. Even if you would remove redundant service departments like the cops and sewer authority it still isn't worth it. Now, sometimes the unincorporated area is too small to be viable. Sometimes the city can just disincorporate and the county gets stuck with it. This is rare.

What is funny is that as the USA gets larger population-wise some places still shrink and the town that did fine in 1810 is too small to make it in 2010.

Quote: AZDuffman

Now that I exlained how a watch works when you asked for the time...

Nice. I gotta remember that line.

Quote: AZDuffman

Tearkana is the only city in more than one state.

I think you meant Texarkana. And there are others. Kansas City springs to mind. But they are all two cities, with seperate governments.

From Wikipedia:
The Texarkana, TX-Texarkana, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is a two-county region anchored by the twin cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas, and encompassing the surrounding communities in Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas.


There are many such twin cities in the US and elsewhere:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_cities_(geographical_proximity)

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Quote: AZDuffman

Now that I exlained how a watch works when you asked for the time...

Nice. I gotta remember that line.

Quote: AZDuffman

Tearkana is the only city in more than one state.

I think you meant Texarkana. And there are others. Kansas City springs to mind. But they are all two cities, with seperate governments.

From Wikipedia:
The Texarkana, TX-Texarkana, AR Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is a two-county region anchored by the twin cities of Texarkana, Texas and Texarkana, Arkansas, and encompassing the surrounding communities in Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas.


There are many such twin cities in the US and elsewhere:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twin_cities_(geographical_proximity)

Yes, Texarkana. My typing is sometimes more fast than acurate. Texarkana is contiguous cities KC is more a "metro area." Not sure how it works but I read once it was the only "bistate" city in the USA." I didn't research any further to see how it functioned. Now I see it has two seperate mayors but shares some federal installations.

The two main reasons for unification is to eliminate a layer of government where none is perceived to be needed, and to put the wealthy suburbs under the same government as the inner city.

Las Vegas in particular really knocks itself out trying to preserve it's old Fremont Street core because it has so few casinos inside the city limits. Without the huge infusions of city money, Fremont street in it's present form probably wouldn't exist.

In the 19th century
1) Denver City, & Arapahoe County
2) City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii[5]
3) City of New Orleans and Orleans Parish, Louisiana
4) City and County of San Francisco, California
5) City and county of Philadelphia
6) City of NYC, and the five counties/boroughs

Some cities are independent of counties like Carson City, NV and Baltimore MD. Most of the major cities in VA are not part of the county system.

Mergers have happened in a few places around the country.
Total mergers include:
# Anaconda and Deer Lodge County, Montana
# Butte and Silver Bow County, Montana
# Columbus and Muscogee County, Georgia
# Cusseta and Chattahoochee County, Georgia
# Georgetown and Quitman County, Georgia
# Hartsville and Trousdale County, Tennessee
# Houma and Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana
# Lexington and Fayette County, Kentucky
# Lynchburg and Moore County, Tennessee
# Tribune, Kansas and Greeley County, Kansas

Mergers of major city with part of the county are:
# Athens and Clarke County, Georgia
(one community entirely within Clarke County retains a separate government)
# Augusta and Richmond County, Georgia
(two communities within Richmond County retain separate governments)
# Baton Rouge and East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
(City of Baton Rouge retains separate city limits, and official census population only includes this area)
# Camden County, North Carolina
(County with no incorporated municipalities, apart from a small portion of Elizabeth City re-organizing into a single unified government)
# Indianapolis and Marion County, Indiana
(four communities within Marion County retain separate governments: see Unigov)
# Jacksonville and Duval County, Florida
(four incorporated places within Duval County retain separate governments, including the cities of Jacksonville Beach, Neptune Beach, and Atlantic Beach, and the town of Baldwin; all other rural land is incorporated by Jacksonville, preventing any annexation by them)
# Kansas City and Wyandotte County, Kansas
(this "Unified Government" contains Kansas City, Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, and roughly half of Lake Quivira; a county relationship is maintained with the rest of the communities within the county)
# Lafayette Parish, Louisiana and Lafayette
(City of Lafayette retains separate city limits, and official census population only includes this area)
# Louisville and Jefferson County, Kentucky
(all cities in pre-merger Jefferson County, other than Louisville, retain separate identities and some governmental functions, but all participate fully in the county-wide governing body, Louisville Metro Council)
# Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee
(seven communities within Davidson County retain separate governments, although all participate in the metropolitan government in a two-tier system)

Of course, one aspect of Clark County government has already merged, which no one has brought up - Las Vegas Metro Police is a combination of the Clark County Sheriff's Department (elected, as are most Western sheriffs) and the Las Vegas Police Department. Unlike a contract city operation, financial oversight of Metro PD comes from both the City of Las Vegas and Clark County. You could extend the Indianapolis model to Clark County, where you have the county getting more powers while each municipality has some self rule. You have the city itself and then the "balance".