HD14 - Local Government and School Division Consolidation


Executive Summary:
For this study, JLARC staff evaluated the state policies that support consolidation. The state uses two funding strategies to support local government and school division consolidation. The first strategy maintains local funding at pre-consolidation levels for services such as constitutional officers, human services, and general registrars. This prevents a newly consolidated locality from experiencing a funding reduction and removes a possible deterrent to consolidation. The second strategy involves using the lower composite index of the two consolidating localities in calculating state K-12 funding. This results in the state paying a higher share of K-12 costs for the combined locality. Report includes recommendations.