Eliminate county duplication

By James Strohman

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With Iowa cities, educational institutions and state government struggling with the realities of providing services with a shrinking set of resources, the Legislature should do away with most county government as a long-term solution to many of Iowa's financial constraints.

Iowa counties levy more than $1 billion in property taxes and spend more than $2 billion each year. Lawmakers should recognize that county governments are the treasure chest where additional funding can be found for better schools, roads and job creation.

Changing the county system could provide those needed resources while also dramatically reducing residential, agricultural, industrial and commercial property taxes. New York, Illinois and Florida have begun eliminating county recorders, sheriff patrol units and county treasurers. Rhode Island has never had counties, Connecticut has ended nearly all county government and Massachusetts has halved its number of counties.

The Iowa Legislature could shift functions to the state, a local city, township or already existing regional governments. A framework for such change was commissioned by the Greater Milwaukee Committee, whose report outlining how to rework counties can be found at www.

publicpolicyforum.org/

milwaukeecountyreport.php.

Typically, functions of Iowa counties are fixing roads and bridges, offering social services and providing public safety. But many counties have done a poor job of maintaining infrastructure. Most social services are already offered by cities, the state or local non-profits. And most property owners pay double for public safety but get little benefits.

Iowa needs a sound rural infrastructure to move children to schools and commodities to market. But Iowa ranks 47th among the states in terms of the need for infrastructure repairs - with 22 percent of local bridges classified as insufficient.

Instead of county work, roads and bridges could be maintained through a combination of the state transportation department, existing regional and metro planning associations, and townships - where local farmers tend to know best which gravel roads, bridges and culverts need attention.

County sheriffs could be eliminated by having cities contract for rural patrols, shifting 911 call centers to municipal departments and turning over jails to the state Department of Corrections, which could use the facilities to assist in managing overcrowded prisons. County jails are at 72 percent capacity, with 1,308 empty beds. Iowa's state prison population exceeds capacity by 1,288 inmates (as of April).

Most Iowans pay property taxes for both a municipal police department and a county sheriff, but only receive routine protection from their city police. In Story County, 82 percent of residents are served by a municipal police department, not the sheriff. In Polk County, it's more than 90 percent.

Counties still cling to elected recorders and treasurers - who issue motor-vehicle registrations, birth certificates and collect property tax payments. But registrations could be obtained at state driver's license stations, tax payments sent to the state revenue department for distribution and vital records issued by the state health department.

Virtually every function that county government performs is either already provided by another level of government or could be transferred to another existing entity.

In the past decade, metro populations have jumped 10 percent while rural numbers fell 4 percent. Metro job growth has increased 8 percent and rural jobs have declined 3 percent. A century ago, 72 percent of Iowans lived in rural areas. Today, it's 16 percent.

As the growth in Iowa metro areas continues, county government becomes even less relevant and cost-effective, particularly for rural residents, who pay a greater share of their property taxes for deteriorating infrastructure and services rural residents rarely use.

The system of county government created 140 years ago is no longer a viable, effective and necessary form of government today. The Legislature should create an interim committee - much as it successfully did for mental health - to outline changes to county government.

James Strohman of Ames is a political science lecturer at Iowa State University and a former Story County supervisor. Contact: strohman@

iastate.edu.