Pittburgh/ Allegheny county merger (Pittsburgh, Erie: transfer, school district, live)

[Katiana]

I would say that I favor some intergovernmental co-operation more than a merger. Some metro-wide taxing districts would be helpful, too.

[Drover]

I'd be very cautious about adding taxing bodies in the area. It's already taxed to death. New regional bodies should only be given taxing authority in direct proportion with the removal of similar authority from municipal bodies.

[Katiana]

I agree. That's what I had in mind, such as a metro library district, and the like, instead of each tiny community (and there are some tiny ones in AC) having its "own".

[RockLobster]

I must say Mark DeSantis has been very good in responding to email. When asked about what level of merging or 'administrative consolidation' he would promote as mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, Mark responded..I believe in an "adminstrative consolidation" versus a complete political consolidation. That is, we would take key departments (i.e., police, ems, public works, etc.) and fuse them with the county departments. The mayor and city council would remain for the time being. In that way, each citizen retains their due access to their respective elected leaders but we also get some rationalization of our government service delivery. A political could soon follow. The consolidation would be done by referendum

[RockLobster]

The Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities has been around for 40 years and was established by the MN State Legisature. The goal back then was 1) Plan for orderly and economical development of that 7 county metro area, and 2)
Coordinate the delivery of certain services that could no longer be effectively provided by local units of government. In the mid 1990's the state Legislature gave the council operating authority for metro transit and wastewater treatemnt. Of course both issues have become huge local concerns to SW PA. And as development goes we have had to deal with such issues as random commercial and residential project construction in envrionmentally sensitive areas such as the Killbuck-WalMart mess and slowness in brownfield development in the Mon Valley. The frame work of such regional cooperation would seemingly help to minimize the effects of such issues that are so common to Greater Pittsburgh. Does anyone know about the extent of cooperation in Louisville ?

[Katiana]

It seems like there are a number of models for inter-governmental co-operation.

[TrayyBall]

that would be a large metropolitain area if they did merge, it would probably be near 2 million.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by TrayyBall

that would be a large metropolitain area if they did merge, it would probably be near 2 million.

Per city-data: 1,200,000 (rounded). And most people on this forum are talking more intergovernmental cooperation than merger.

[RockLobster]

Mark DeSantis GOP running for Mayor City of Pgh and strong advocate for mergering of some service and govt aspects and possible regionalism starts his efforts:

People for DeSantis Kick-Off:
Tuesday June 26, 2007
9:30am
The Rotunda of the Pennsylvanian
1100 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

[supersoulty]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Do you live in the city or the suburbs? I'm sure a merger would help the city. I'm not sure about the suburbs though.

It is true that, in the short term, it would cause tax hikes in places like Mt. Lebanon, Fox Chapel, etc... but to say it would not help the suburbs is a gross simplification based only on short term gains or loses.

1) Consolidation would be a major indicator to large corporations and investment groups that Pittsburgh has its act together. Anytime it has been done else where, people have been quick to take notice.

2) Pittsburgh would be instantly vaulted from the 52nd largest city in America to the 6th... that would be huge for media exposure, but also big for certain kinds of federal funding, such as homeland security funding, which would help with some of the cities bills.

3) Government could actually come up with a united formula for future planning, further facilitating the adoption of a regional vision/strategy. This would be an incalculable asset to the area and help grow Pittsburgh in the future.

4) Taxes for everyone would go down for almost everyone in the long run, as the city would have a larger tax pool to draw from for its needs.