For cities, consolidation may be a cost-cutting solution
Any organization, in order to survive, must continuously focus on its cost centers and its revenue streams. Through that lens, it is time to look government redundancy straight in the eye. As one example, in my county there are 39 cities with 39 separate police departments. In addition to law enforcement, there are separate municipal courts, competing jails, multiple 911 call centers, and multiple taxing districts for fire and emergency medical response services.