In United States local government, a consolidated city-county is formed when one or more cities and their surrounding county (parish in Louisiana, borough in Alaska) merge into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is a type of unitary authority that has the governmental powers of both a municipal corporation and a county.
A consolidated city-county is different from an independent city, although the latter may result from consolidation of a city and a county and may also have the same powers as a consolidated city-county. An independent city is a city not deemed by its state to be located within the boundary of any county and considered a primary administrative division of its state.States, Counties, and Statistically Equivalent Entities, from the United States Census Bureau A consolidated city-county differs from an independent city in that the city and county both nominally exist, although they have a consolidated government, whereas in an independent city, the county does not even nominally exist. Furthermore, a consolidated city-county may still contain independent municipalities maintaining some governmental powers that did not merge with the rest of the county.
Not considering Hawaii, which has no independent municipalities, the Midwest and Upper South have the highest concentration of large consolidated city-county governments in the United States, including Indianapolis, Indiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Louisville, Kentucky; Kansas City, Kansas; and Lexington, Kentucky. The largest consolidated city-county in the United States by population is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while the largest by land area is Sitka, Alaska.
Terminology The term consolidated city-county refers to a consolidated jurisdiction in a state that is otherwise divided into counties. In Louisiana, which is divided into parishes, the equivalent jurisdiction is known as either a city-parish or a consolidated government, depending on the locality. In Alaska, it is known as a unified municipality, unified home rule borough, or city and borough.Alaska's Local Government, from Alaska Municipal LeagueGovernance in Anchorage The United States Census Bureau generically refers to any such jurisdiction as a consolidated city, regardless of the jurisdiction into with the city has consolidated. Although California is divided into counties, a consolidated city-county is officially termed a city and county.
Overview Consolidated city-counties are typically formed to address particular government challenges. Among the benefits of having a unified jurisdiction include potential cost savings, more efficiency, increased legal powers and revenue sources, and a more streamlined planning system.
Most consolidated city-counties have a single chief executive who acts as both the city mayor and as the head of the county government, and a multi-district elected body that serves as both the city council and as the county legislative body.
In many states, consolidated city-counties must be approved by voters. According to information compiled by former Albuquerque mayor David Rusk, 105 referendums were held in the United States between 1902 and 2010 to consider proposals to consolidate cities and counties. Only 27 of these proposals were approved by voters.Kate Linebaugh, Threats to Town Halls Stir Voter Backlash, The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2011
Wyandotte County, Kansas, uses the term "unified government" to refer to its consolidation with Kansas City, Kansas, and most of the towns within the county boundaries remain separate jurisdictions within the county. Individual sections of a metropolitan or regional municipality may retain some autonomous jurisdiction apart from the citywide government.
Often, in place of another level of government, local governments form councils of governments—essentially governmental organizations which are not empowered with any law-making or law enforcement powers. This is the case in the Atlanta metropolitan area, where the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) studies and makes recommendations on the impact of all major construction and development projects on the region, but generally cannot stop them. The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) is a true government agency of the state of Georgia, and does control some state transportation funding to the cities and counties, but otherwise has very little authority beyond this small power of the purse.
In California, a city and county's chartered city powers supersede its chartered county powers. However, because the city and county has territorial jurisdiction exclusive of other counties, it also has county officers, and the state counts it as a county for certain purposes.
Despite being consolidated with New Orleans, Orleans Parish retains a nominal, sui generis status under Louisiana state law that guarantees the city's home rule. It has been effectively abolished as a distinct governmental unit. However, various parish offices remain with a degree of independence from the city government, while in other matters, the city represents the parish.
The case of New York City is unique, in that the city consists of five boroughs, each of which is co-extensive with a county. Each has its own district attorney; however, county-level government is essentially non-existent as all executive and legislative power is exercised by the city government throughout the five boroughs. The city, as currently constituted, was created in 1898 when the city of New York (then comprising what would become the boroughs of Manhattan and The Bronx) annexed Kings County, Queens County, and Richmond County as the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, respectively.
International equivalents
Similar unitary authority arrangements also exist in other countries.
United Kingdom Modern unitary authorities are similar, and are known as county boroughs in Wales. In Scotland, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow are functionally "independent cities", though the term is not used.
Europe In Germany, Berlin and Hamburg are both cities and states (the state of Bremen consists of the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven). Nearly every larger city in Germany is an independent city, like Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich or Dresden; Austria, where the capital of Vienna is both a city and state; France, where the capital city of Paris has been coterminous with the département of Paris since 1968.
Russia In Russia, there are urban districts - territories consisting of a city and nearby settlements united by one mayor's office. As a rule, urban districts are the capitals of the constituent entities of Russia and other major cities in the region. In 2020, there were 635 urban districts.
Canada The Canadian province of Ontario contains several single-tier municipalities. They can be similar to American consolidated city-counties in that they are often formed by amalgamating an upper-tier municipality. However, they are functionally independent cities as, unlike a consolidated city-county, the county or region ceases to exist after being amalgamated and does not continue on a nominal basis, leaving only the unified single-tier city. One example is the City of Toronto, created in 1998 from the amalgamation of the central government and the six constituent municipalities of the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto (a type of regional municipality), itself originally created in 1954.
The Northern Rockies Regional Municipality in British Columbia is also a single-tier municipality, functioning as both a regional district and a district municipality. It was formed in 2009 by amalgamating the former Northern Rockies Regional District.
Japan In 1943, the City of Tokyo was amalgamated with the former Tokyo Prefecture to form the Tokyo Metropolis. The present form of Tokyo functions similarly to a prefecture, having a central government along with several autonomous subdivisions. The original Tokyo City was split into 23 "special wards" which effectively function as cities. In addition, there are also 23 cities, 5 towns and 8 villages within Tokyo. Under this structure, Tokyo does not have a single mayor, but rather a governor and numerous local mayors. Further, some responsibilities that would normally be held by the cities are instead held by the metropolitan government. Currently, Tokyo is the only place designated as a metropolis.
South Korea Seoul is a special city, while six other cities (Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Incheon, and Ulsan) are metropolitan cities.
Australia Municipalities in Australia, or "Local Government Areas" (LGAs) as they are officially known, are all single-tier entities with no government in-between them and the state or territory. However, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) does not have any LGAs. Instead, the territorial government performs all municipal functions of the city of Canberra, and thus functions as an integrated city-territory.
Balances
In nine consolidated city-county governments in the United States, the formerly independent incorporated places maintain some governmental powers. In these cities, which the United States Census Bureau calls "consolidated cities", statistics are recorded both for the entire consolidated government and for the component municipalities. A part of the consolidated government is called the "balance", which the Census Bureau defines as "the consolidated city minus the semi-independent incorporated places located within the consolidated city".Population Estimates Geography , United States Census Bureau, 2006-06-19. Retrieved 2007-09-07.
In Georgia, consolidations often required multiple attempts, changes in procedures, and different local laws in the state legislature. They often did not include some smaller jurisdictions. They also retained characteristics of both types of government, e.g., a sheriff as required by the Georgia Constitution.Arnold Fleischmann and Jennifer Custer, "Columbus/Muscogee County, Georgia," in Suzanne M. Leland and Kurt Thurmaier, CASE STUDIES IN CITY-CONSOLIDATION (Armonk, NY, M.E. Sharpe, 2004), 46–59; Arnold Fleischmann, "Regionalism and City-County-County Consolidation in Small Metro Areas," STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW 32:3 (Fall 2000): 213–226.
These consolidated cities are: Athens–Clarke County, Georgia Augusta–Richmond County, Georgia Butte–Silver Bow County, Montana Indianapolis–Marion County, Indiana Jacksonville–Duval County, Florida Kansas City, Kansas–Wyandotte County, Kansas Louisville–Jefferson County, Kentucky Nashville–Davidson County, Tennessee
List of consolidated city-counties
Consolidated as a single entity The following consolidated city-counties are considered single entities encompassing both a city and a county, such as "City and County of San Francisco". Alaska Municipality of Anchorage: City and Borough are consolidated forming a unified government. City and Borough of Juneau City and Borough of Sitka Municipality and Borough of Skagway City and Borough of Wrangell City and Borough of Yakutat California City and County of San Francisco: The City of San Francisco was the seat of San Francisco County until 1856, when the county was split into the consolidated City and County of San Francisco in the north, with the remainder of old San Francisco County becoming the new County of San Mateo. Colorado City and County of Broomfield: Town of Broomfield incorporated June 1, 1961. Consolidated City and County of Broomfield created November 15, 2001, from the incorporated City of Broomfield in portions of Boulder, Adams, Jefferson, and Weld Counties.