For some time I have heard the argument that Minnesota, with 87, has too many counties. A County Commissioner from Ottertail is the latest to make the pitch, suggesting that we consolidate to between 30-35.
The argument, of course, is efficiency, economies of scale, eliminate duplication of costs, etc. As a resident of the state's largest county by population (Hennepin), I can attest that just the opposite is true. Huge diseconomies exist when a single political entity tries to serve 1.15 million people with a $ billion plus budget.
The latest controversy in Hennepin involves the Commissioners (on a 4-3 vote), giving themselves a backdoor $2,000 raise on top of their $97,080 a year salary. I doubt that is what the gentleman from Ottertail has in mind.
In Jefferson's "Ward Republics" concept, government would move closer to the people not further away. If we are looking for savings in government waste, look to eliminate the duplicate layers: watershed districts, soil and water districts, park districts, sewer districts with overlapping jurisdictions and similar missions. In fact there are 26 different kinds of taxing districts in Minnesota.
A for Counties, look elsewhere for savings.
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