Profile of County Government
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AN INFORMATION REPORT PROFILE OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT ADVISORY COMMISSION ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS DECEMBER 1971 M-72 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $1.26 Stock Number 6204-0039 PREFACE In this report, the staff of the Advisory Commission on Intergov- ernmental Relations has assembled a substantial body of information on county government. Much of the data is based on a joint survey conducted by the Commission, the National Association of Counties, and the International City Management Association. Hopefully, readers can use this document to acquire an updated picture of coun- ty government characteristics. Other purposes of the report include presenting a summary of needed county government modernization measures; a general profile of their creation, form, structure, and functions; an analysis of single- county Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas; and an assessment of the progress made to date in county reform. This report is a staff document only. It contains no new policy rec- ommendations and has not been the subject of action by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. Robert E. Merriam Chairman ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is based upon a survey conducted by the ACIR Gov- ernmental Structure and Functions Division in conjunction with the National Association of Counties and the International City Manage- ment Association. The staff work was conducted by Charles W. Washington under the supervision of James H. Pickford, Senior Analyst. Chapter VII is the result of a survey and analysis done by Carl W. Stenberg, Senior Analyst and Chapter IV is primarily the work of John Callahan, former staff member. Secretarial-clerical services of Betty Waugh, Linda Parker, Barbara Slade, Jennifer Rus- sel, and Inna Winn were, of course, indispensable. The staff had the benefit of informal review, comment and current data from Rodney Kendig, Alastair McArthur, and Charlene Caile of the National Association of Counties and from Jean Gansel of the In- ternational City Management Association. In addition, the Commission and staff received the cooperation of the counties whose structure, organization, and functions are exam- ined in this study. Without the response of the county commissioners, clerks, administrative assistants, managers, and mayors, this report could not have been written. William R. MacDougall Executive Director David B. Walker Assistant Director Contents PROLOGUE . SOME QUESTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION CHAPTER I . THE DIMENSIONS OF REFORM Appeal for County Reform ........................................................... 5 Proposed County Reform to Date ..................................................... 5 Ob-jectives of the Report ............................................................. 7 Description of the ACIR/NACO/ICMA Survey ......................................... 7 Sources Reliability and Limitations of Data ............................................. 8 CHAPTER 11 . STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATION OF COUNTY GOVERNMENT County-type Areas: A Problem of Definition .............................................9 ...................................................... 10 Area and Po~ulation1 of Counties Forms of County Government Organization ..............................................11 County Executive Plan .............................................................. 12 Survey Results: Forms of County Government .......................................... 13 Governing Bodies of Counties ........................................................ 16 Other Independently Elected or Appointed Officials ...................................... 18 Concluding Observations ............................................................ 19 CHAPTER I11 . SERVICES AND FUNCTIONS PERFORMED BY COUNTIES ' 22 Functions Provided by Counties ....................................................... 22 Governmental Arrangements for Provision of Services .................................... 25 Areas in Which Functions are Performed ............................................... 28 Summary and Conclusions ........................................................... 30 CHAPTER IV . COUNTY GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN ZONING. SUBDIVISION AND LAND-USE CONTROL Traditional Patterns in Zoning and Land-Use Controls ................................... 32 New Developments in Zoning and Land-Use Controls .................................... 32 Survey Results ..................................................................... 33 Summary and Observations .......................................................... (35 CHAPTER V . COUNTY AND SPECIAL DISTRICTS RELATIONSHIP Number and Characteristics of Special Districts ......................................... 37 Survey Results ..................................................................... 38 County Power Over Special Districts .................................................. 40 Summary and Conclusions ...........................................................41 CHAPTER VI. SINGLE-COUNTY STANDARD METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREAS General Characteristics of Single-County SMSA's . 42 Structure of Single-County SMSA's . .4'2 Functions Performed by Single-County SMSA7s . 43 County-County Consolidation . -47 Single-County SMSA Transfer of Functions . .47 Single-County SMSA7s and Special Districts . .48 Summary and Conclusions . -48 CHAPTER VII. DECENTRALIZATION OF SERVICES IN COUNTY 'GOVERNMENT Territorial Decentralization . 50 Administrative Decentralization . 5 1 Political Decentralization . : . , . .52 Summary ......................................................................... 52 Appendices .A-1 County Reform-Suggested Legislation Optional Forms of County Government . 55 Voluntary Transfer of Functions Between Municipalities and Counties . , . 59 County Performance of Urban Functions . 61 Supervision of Special Districts . 63 County Subordinate Service Areas . 67 County Powers in Relation to Local Planning and Zoning Actions . 71 County Consolidation . , . 76 State Assistance for County Consolidation . 78 A-2 International city' Management Association's Criteria for the General Manaqe- ment Position in County Government 81 A-3 International City Manaqement Association's Criteria for the Council-Manager Position in County Government 81 A-4 County Administrator Counties November 197 1 82 A-5 Counties Recoqnized by the National Association of Counties as Having Elected County Executives 84 A-6 Title of County Governinq Boards by State 85 B-1 Selected Powers of Counties Over Special Districts B-2 City-County Consolidation Interest,.June 1971 C-1 Single County SMSA's by State C-2 Selected Characteristics of Responding Single-County SLVSA'S TABLES 1. Forms of County Government: Metro and Non-metro, 1971 2. Forms of County Government: Means of Establishment, 1971 3. Appointed County Administrators: Location and Population, June 1970 4. Elected County Executives: Location and Population, June 1970 5. Size of County Governing Boards: 1965 6. Means of Selecting County Board Representatives: 1965 7. Members of County Governing Bodies Elected At-large: Median Length of Term and Median Annual Salary, 1971 8. Single-member District Members of County Governing Bodies: Median Length of Term and Median Annual Salary, 1971 9. Multimember District County Governing Bodies: {MedianMembership, Term of Office and Annual Salary, 1971 10. ~edianNumber of Members of County Governing Bodies: Length of Term and Annual Salary, 1971 1 1. Independently Elected County Officials, 197 1 12. Appointed County Officials, 1971 13. Rank Order of Functions Performed by County Governments, 1971 14. Comparison of Functions Performed: Metro and Non-metropolitan Counties, 197 1 15. Transfer of Functions Authorization: County Consensus and Number of Transfers, 1971 16. Authorized Transfer of Functions by Population Category and Legal Basis, 1971 17. Transfer of Selected Functions: Subcounty Governments to Counties and Counties to Subcounty Governments Between 1960 and 1970, 1971 18. Functions Performed by Counties: Area of Service and Funding Method, 1971 19. County Land-Use Powers : National Summary, 1971 20. Regional Variations in County Land-Use Powers, 1971 21. Regional Variation in Metropolitan County Land-Use Powers, 1971 22. County Land-Use Powers in Selected Large Metropolitan Counties, 1971 23. Special District Proliferation, 1942-1 967 24. States With Greatest Number of Special Districts, 1967 25. Number of Non-school Special Districts Coterminous With Local Units of Government, 1971 26. Special Districts in Counties by Function and County Fiscal Power Over Special Districts, 1971 27. County Power Over Special Districts, 1971 28. Single-county SMSA's Forms of County Government : Means of Establishment, 1971 29. Single-County SMSA's: Functions, Area of Service and Funding Method, 1971 30. Authorization for Transfer of Functions: Legal Basis and Local Action Required, 1971 31. Special Districts by Functions in Single-County SMSA's, 1971 In a very real sense, the counties are at the urban and rural counties are, or should be, facing crossroad. During each of the past three decades, a period of massive readjustment. For the urban half of the counties lost population. At the same counties: time, the population of may urban counties has It means having to recognize and respond to the skyrocketed. Perhaps, more than any other unit of increased demand and need for governmental general government, the county has been hit most services that