Which major Tennessee city would be most likely to adopted city-county consolidation?

[nashvols]

Originally Posted by JMT

I mentioned Morristown/Hamblen County in an earlier post. They did have it on the ballot in 1978 and consolidation failed by quite a large margin (70% opposed consolidation). I imagine that it would fail by an even larger margin today, although from an outsider's perspective it looks like Morristown/Hamblen County would be a prime candidate for consolidation.

Ah, I didn't see that you had referenced that. Sorry.

Yeah, I know nothing of the local politics. I just know it is one of the smallest counties by land area in the state. But it's also not a really big town to begin with. Big enough to provide city services (less like the other tiny cities/towns), but not so big that the city takes up most of the land.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by nashvols

Consolidation does not mean that the city and county will have the same property tax rate.

Nashville has a rate of $4.13 for the urban service district, and a rate of $3.56 for the general service district.

Knoxville has a overall rate of $4.82 and the county has a rate of $2.36.

My guess would be the county rate would go up if it happened in Knox County, but they could certainly maintain two separate tax rates and services provided. The question would be, is there a need to? Now that the county schools are combined, the only services I could see that could consider consolidating are police and fire. That doesn't necessarily require a consolidation of the government, though.

Knoxville residents also get trash, refuse and bulk pickup.

[RichRollin]

Originally Posted by JMT

That could never happen. When a city and county "merge" what actually happens is the city gives up its incorporation, and the county takes over. So, for example, when Nashville and Davidson County "merged" it was actually the city of Nashville which dissolved into Davidson County. This is why there are still other incorporated towns within Davidson County that are not part of the metropolitan government, such as Belle Meade, Forest Hills, and Madison; they chose to stay independent rather than hand over their town charters to the county.

So, if Memphis and Shelby County "merge" it's actually the city of Memphis which gives up its charter and ceases to exist, and Shelby County takes over while towns such as Bartlett, Collierville, and Germantown remain independent enclaves within the county.

At any rate, I think another prime candidate for consolidation is Morristown/Hamblen County. It's a tiny county in land area that is totally dominated by the city of Morristown.

JMT, you said exactly what I was thinking. That town could really benefit from it! It's weird how they have it set up. You can go to the edge of the county on most sides and the city limits will nearly reach the county border. Yet you can be smack dab in town and there are places that are not city limits. A while back I saw where Hamblen County was the 3rd heaviest populated per sq. mile in upper east tenn (Knox, Sullivan, Hamblen, Washington). That might have changed, haven't checked in a while. However, it would be very much justified IMO. That would give them a city population of roughly 62K rather than the measly 28-30k. Very good and accurate post JMT.

[RichRollin]

Originally Posted by JMT

I mentioned Morristown/Hamblen County in an earlier post. They did have it on the ballot in 1978 and consolidation failed by quite a large margin (70% opposed consolidation). I imagine that it would fail by an even larger margin today, although from an outsider's perspective it looks like Morristown/Hamblen County would be a prime candidate for consolidation.

I would think they would turn it down as well. HOWEVER, they did pass liquor by the drink which blew my mind, LOL. I think they could benefit as much as anyone by consolidating, JMO.