This article ran in the Petoskey News Review this morning.
By Noah Fowle News-Review Staff Writer
With Michigan staring down significant budget shortfalls in the next two years, cuts and other cost-saving measures are only beginning to roll out of Lansing.
Rep. Kevin Elsenheimer, R-Kewadin, predicts the state will examine areas where it can consolidate, including school districts and layers of overlapping government.
“We have more government in Michigan per person than almost any other state in the union. We simply can’t afford all of the government we have,” the House Minority Leader said. “Lansing is also looking at a number of school districts and consolidation in that area.”
Elsenheimer added, “It makes sense for Northern Michigan governments to be cooperating as much as possible so that they might avoid some of the things Lansing might be ready to do.”
Although talk of consolidation often brings up fears of inevitable gaps, officials in Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties are growing increasingly comfortable with the idea. During last week’s annual tri-county board of commissioners meeting, talk of consolidation was not shied away from as local leaders looked to the successful emblem of the three-counties’ emergency management services.
Emmet County Board of Commissioners chairman Jim Tamlyn said that as counties begin to get past their invisible political boundaries, they will understand how much common success they have at stake.
“When someone or a new business moves into Cheboygan County, they don’t just spend their money there,” he said. “I don’t think there is a limit to what can be consolidated. The health departments are already doing it.”
Linda Socha, the chair of the Cheboygan County Board of Commissioners, said if consolidation mandates come from Lansing she and her counterparts are ready because they have been working on them from the ground up.
“It will be easier for us because we have a proven track record,” she said. “We work so closely already. We do it out of survival.”
In Charlevoix County, board of commissioners chairman Chris Christensen declined to give details on the next area that leaders are considering consolidations, but said the dialogue is already starting.“It’s apparent to us now that this is the future,” he said. “And some efficiencies can be gained.”
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