Editorial “Singing praises of local gov’t” opens “The state Legislature is toying with the idea of replacing Pennsylvania’s 2,5762 municipalities – cities, boroughs and townships – with county-based government structures. We say ‘toying,’ because the proposal isn’t gaining much traction with lawmakers.” It comments “Local government are responsive to the people, and they can be responsive in a way that gives taxpayers the most bang for their buck.”
WATCHDOG: We concur that elimination of all municipalities would not be a good idea. For one thing, they are the incubator of democracy.
A young person aspiring to elected position on the county, state or federal levels does well by volunteering to help at the polls at 18, seeking an appointment to his local planning board or other township or borough committee at 21, and running for supervisor at 25. Each position provides a valuable learning experience.
Rather than the county replacing municipalities, what is desirable is the merger of police and fire fighting forces and school systems among selective municipalities. That leads to superior service and considerable relief for tax payers, while still preserving democracy at its grass roots.
A certain local public official likes to comment that many people tell him that government should be run more like a business. He then goes on to point out that what business would have 77 completely separate operating units within a geographic area as small as Lancaster County? There are 41 townships, 18 boroughs, one city, 16 school districts here, and the Lancaster County government. All of this adds up to an unbelievable amount of wasteful overhead and duplicated services.
There are something like 34 cities in the U.S. which have a larger population than all of Lancaster County combined. Very few people would seriously consider breaking each of these up into multiple separate governments.
The only thing that is achieved by having so many local governments is the 21st century equivalent of feudalism. In the name of “local control”, each little municipality is a fiefdom which is primarily interested in itself, often ignoring or outright denying the greater good of Lancaster County. To say this is counterproductive would be a serious understatement.
Local governments cannot raise taxes enough to pay for out-of-control health care and pension costs for their employees. Like it or not, the day is fast approaching when all of Lancaster County will be financially forced to take decisive action for the greater good of all, and start running our local government like the efficient business that it really needs to be.