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by Joe Sullivan

In last week’s column, I opined that the stars appeared to be aligning propitiously for consolidation of our city and county governments. But there are also some stars that remain crossed in ways that could thwart or unduly compromise any new effort to combine the two governments.

Foremost among them is the aversion to coming under the same roof with the city of Knoxville on the part of many residents outside the city, especially across the northern tier of Knox County, extending from Gibbs to Halls to Powell and Karns. By all accounts, prevailing sentiment in these communities is for keeping their separateness from Knoxville. Fear of somehow becoming an extension of the city or getting hit with tax increases to pay its bills appears to remain just as much of an obstacle today as it was in 1996, when voters outside the city rejected consolidation by a 64 to 36 percent margin.

Under state law, consolidation must be approved by separate majorities of voters inside the city and outside. And changing the mind-set of voters outside will be a formidable undertaking. Subordinating the city to the county might do the trick, but since consolidation only carried in the city by a 52 to 48 percent margin last time around, any such subordination could tip the scales against it there.

The most palpable symbol of a city-centric orientation in the consolidation charter that went down to defeat was its provision for appointment of the government’s chief law enforcement officer by the mayor. This usurped not only the position of a well-regarded (outside the city) elected sheriff, Tim Hutchison, but also the prerogative of Knox Countians to elect their “top cop.” Even if Hutchison had not spearheaded the opposition to consolidation, it probably would have been defeated, though by a lesser margin.

A 17-member charter commission worked long and hard to craft a comprehensive governance construct, and a majority believed that an appointive selection would more nearly assure a highly qualified law enforcement chief than would election. But the commission’s estimable chairman, Sam Furrow, now says, “If I had it to do over, I would have been more politically flexible.”

Yet it’s hard to imagine Hutchison sitting still for perpetuation of the Police Advisory Review Committee that former Mayor Victor Ashe created in the city in 1997 to avert a racial crisis. In the absence of assurances that PARC will continue, though, the black community will vote overwhelmingly against consolidation, assuring either its defeat or a new source of racial tension if it passes.

In many respects, the 1996 charter strove to balance city and county interests and to allay concerns that county taxpayers would end up footing some of the cost of purely city services and obligations. To accomplish that, the charter provided for creation of an urban services district coterminous with the present city limits. In addition to their countywide taxes, property owners within the district would be assessed a rate equal to the city’s property tax to cover: 1.) all of the city’s debt and pension liabilities and; 2.) the cost of all services provided purely in the city. As the city’s debt got paid off, this rate would decline.

Fortuitously, the $60 million in property tax revenues that go into the city’s operating budget just about equals the cost of purely city services. Those include fire protection, garbage, leaf and brush pickup, snow removal and streetlights. To get to $60 million, one also has to include the $6 million that the city contributes to Knoxville Area Transit, which is a creature of the city and whose routes and ridership are 99 percent within the city. The Knoxville Convention Center’s $3 million operating deficit would also have to be included for good measure.

Services provided throughout the county, such as law enforcement and parks and recreation, would be paid for out of the consolidated government’s general fund. But here again, it just so happens that city sales tax revenues that would go into that fund roughly equal the present $38 million budget of the Knoxville Police Department.

Hence, the perception that county residents would end up subsidizing the city has been based on misunderstanding or mistrust. Skepticism also abounds where claimed savings from consolidation are concerned, in areas such as data processing, human resources, purchasing and other administrative functions that are now duplicated.

What’s needed whenever consolidation is reconsidered is inclusion in its formative process of trusted representatives of areas that have been most averse to consolidation in the past. I’m thinking of people like Marvin Hammond, CEO of Hallsdale-Powell Utility District; Carl Tindell, owner of a Halls-based building materials business that bears his name; and County Commissioner Larry Stevens, whose district includes Powell and Karns. All of them subscribe in principle to the proposition that consolidated government can serve Knox interests better and at a lower cost.

At the same time, urban interests and concerns cannot be neglected. In my own view, the 1996 consolidation charter left them underrepresented by the way in which its legislative body was constituted. It essentially perpetuated the present County Commission with 19 representatives from nine districts.

But five of those districts lie preponderantly outside the city. The addition of a handful of at-large representatives would help assure that a majority is attentive to urban needs, whether it is for downtown redevelopment or protective ordinances such as drainage and signage that are stricter in the city than the county presently.

Above all else, though, the need is to demonstrate that city and county interests are aligned. And every way in which Mayors Mike Ragsdale and Bill Haslam work collaboratively is contributing to that end.

June 24, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 26 © 2004 Metro Pulse