Merge just to survive?
Counties discuss consolidation
County governments in Wisconsin are financially unsustainable and must reinvent themselves to survive, even if that means erasing borders and merging with the county next door, Washington County leaders say in a letter to four of their neighbors.
The County Board’s Executive Committee and County Administrator Joshua Schoemann have invited their counterparts in Ozaukee, Fond du Lac, Dodge and Waukesha counties to discuss everything from sharing services, consolidating departments and even redrawing maps to unite as one.
Any talks would build on existing partnerships. Washington and Ozaukee counties merged their health departments last year and already saved taxpayers $300,000. Waukesha County shares its medical examiner with Washington County.
State law allows consolidation of two or more counties and Washington County’s leaders are willing to consider going down that road in order to resolve fiscal problems caused by declining revenue and increasing expenses, Schoemann said.
It was only 164 years ago that Washington County was split in two to create Ozaukee County, and perhaps it’s time to glue the two pieces back together again, he said.
“It is our belief that the existing climate is grim for county government in Wisconsin,” Schoemann and Washington County Board Chairman Rick Gundrum say in the July 17 letter.
They don’t like other options to address the current fiscal imbalance.
“We believe that maintaining existing service levels, with the perpetuation of tax levy freezes and stagnant state aids, is only achievable if counties create new fees, new debt, exercise tax levy referenda or reduce staff support or services to our constituents,” the letter says.
A recently completed five-year financial plan for the county projects an $11 million deficit — the gap between revenues and expenses — by 2021 unless changes are made.
There is no appetite in Washington County for imposing a vehicle registration fee, or for asking residents in a referendum to allow the county to exceed state levy limits, said Schoemann.
And he does not believe the state will reverse a trend of declining shared revenue and other state aid payments that would help counties sustain services.
Instead, Washington County is inviting its neighbors to participate in a series of discussions, known as the Future Regions Initiative, aimed at establishing partnerships to provide more efficient government services. The initiative is sponsored by the Local Government Institute of Wisconsin.
“We see this initiative as an opportunity to fully embrace an alternative to the less than desirable options of raising taxes or reducing services,” the letter says. “We strongly believe that partnering with one of our bordering counties toward the concept of ‘counties without borders’ provides the brightest opportunity.”
The deadline for responses is Aug. 11. That would give Washington County and one or more partners time to apply for a grant from the Local Government Institute to help pay for costs of going through the process, Schoemann said.
Waukesha County Executive Paul Farrow said Friday that he will appoint a group to evaluate further partnerships with Washington County.
He is interested in any partnership that would “increase service to residents while saving valuable taxpayer dollars,” Farrow said.
The Ozaukee County Board’s Executive Committee will discuss the letter at its Aug. 2 meeting, Interim County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said.
The two counties already had started talking about consolidating their shared ride taxi services, Dzwinel said.
A merger of shared ride taxi services would boost the efficiency of services, according to Schoemann and Dzwinel. Federal grant rules do not allow public taxis from either county to cross the border.
So the two counties set up a transfer site in Newburg since the village straddles the two counties.
At this time, a Hartford resident with an appointment at a hospital in Grafton would have to take the Washington County taxi to Newburg and transfer to the Ozaukee County taxi to complete the trip. A return trip would have to be done the same way.
When asked about this push to share or consolidate with other counties, Schoemann said: “There are not many options other than cutting services.”