Consolidation Reminder

This whole consolidation/regionalization thing is just another example, in Rhode Island, of the common wisdom having reality backwards, in my opinion:

In their presence, Raimondo put her signature on an executive order that gives a host of responsibilities to a former Cumberland mayor, Lt. Gov. Daniel J. McKee.

The order calls for McKee to consult with cities and towns and develop “best practices” for addressing municipal costs and for consolidating, or “regionalizing,” municipal services.

The order also charges McKee with drafting legislation that would establish incentives for cities and towns that make efforts at regionalization. McKee, it says, will also try to help communities find other sources of revenue, beyond property taxes and the motor-vehicle excise tax.

Lest we forget, the Central Coventry Fire District (now on RI’s public bankruptcy list) started out as a consolidation project.  Here’s my quick summary, at the beginning of a liveblog of a meeting in April 2012:

… back in 2007, the town consolidated four fire districts into one Central Coventry Fire District, with (some folks tell me) the promise of lowered costs.  Instead, during the process of consolidating, various deficiencies were found in the buildings and equipment, around 10 full-time firefighters were hired, and the fire tax went up four times.  That’s what I was told; an Internet search hasn’t led me to a decent summary of events.

Interestingly, an Internet search for variations of “Coventry fire district consolidation” turns up more stories about other RI municipalities citing Coventry as an example than explanations of what went on in the town when the change was actually made.

It’s one thing to combine activities like salt depots and police shooting ranges.  On a larger scale, though, consolidation can build a new pyramid — a higher one, with a superadministrator overseeing just as many lower administrators as there used to be — that isn’t directly under municipalities’ control and that is often a step or two farther from voters.

In cases where direct or representative democracy remains, consolidation still moves the fight to larger venues, where the consolidated interests of the unions can even more easily overwhelm the disbursed interests of the voters.  (How many local taxpayer groups have experienced hitting a wall built by the unions’ friends in the State House?)

This is one area in which government manifestly does not operate like businesses do.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in The Ocean State Current, including text, graphics, images, and information are solely those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the views and opinions of The Current, the RI Center for Freedom & Prosperity, or its members or staff. The Current cannot be held responsible for information posted or provided by third-party sources. Readers are encouraged to fact check any information on this web site with other sources.

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