Metro trends

Metro Trends Joseph Zimmerman, Editor

Number of Local Elected Officials Rises 2.8 Percent, 1977-87

There are 504.404 popularly elected officials in the nation’s 83,237 governments. according to apreliminary report from the 1987 Census of Governments released by the United States Bureau of the Census.

Federal and state government officials made up less than four percent of the total, while the vast majority represented various types of local governments. Table 1 shows the number of governments and elected officials for all types of governments.

Table 1 Total Governmental Jurisdictions and Elected

Offlcials for All Types

Type of No. of No. Elected No. Government Governments Elected Officials Elected

Officials per Gov’t (avg.)

Federal 1 542 State 50 18,171 Local 83,186 485,691

county 3,042 59,932 Municipal 19,200 137,688 Townshiu 16.691 120.790 School District 14,721 86,772 Special District 29,532 80.509

Totals 839237 504,404

542.0 363.4

5.8 19.7 7.2 7.2

5.9

2.7 6.1

Illinois had the largest number of state andlocal govenunentelectedofficials with 38,936, followed by Pemylvania with 33.242 andTexas with 26,987. Hawaii had

the fewest, with 160. About two-thirds of elected officials

were members of legislative bodies: Con- gress. state legislatures, county and mu-

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226 / NATIONAL CIVIC REVIEW

nicipal councils, independent school districts. and special district boards. Another 25 percent consisted of other elected officials authorized by state law or local char- ter, including elected executives, adminis- trative officials. andmembers of thejudici- ary. The remaining eight percent were members of other elected boards, including those administering dependent school systems.

Data collected for the fist time in this census show that 20 percent of local gov- emment officials were female, two percent were black and one percent were His- panic. Of the types of local governments, school districts had the highest percentage of female elected officials (26.5 percent), whilemunicipal governments hadthehigh- est percentage of black elected officials (3.3 percent).

The new count of state and local government elected officials is 2.8 percent higher than the 490.265 reported in the 1977 census. This change reflects an increase in the number of elected officials at the state government level (notably members of the judiciary) and the rise in the number of special district governments.

The preliminary report contains two tables with data for each state. One shows the number of state and local officials, number of local governments, and average number of officials per government. The second shows the total number of elected officials of govemhg boards for each type of government. A final report to be published later in the year will include more detailed data for each state.

National Metro Population Growth 7.4 Percent Since 1980

by Dkrdre A. Zimmerman The nation has 37 metro areas with at

least one million population, according to 1987 population estimates issued by the United States Bureauof thecensus. These areas had 119 million residents. close to half (48.9 percent) of the national population of 243.4 million.

More than three of every four people live in the country’s 282 designated metro areas. whose population totaled 187.1 million in 1987 and 172.5 million in 1980. The 1987 metropolitan increase was 8.5 percent (14.6 million), more than twice the 4.1 percent increase (2.2 million) in non- metropolitan territory. National growth since 1980 has amounted to 7.4 percent.

Growth has slowed significantly in recent years for the 56.3 million non-metropolitan population. From 1986 to 1987. it amounted to only 200,000 (0.3 percent) comparedwith1.8million(l.Opercent)for metropolitan areas.

Among the top metro areas, Washmg- ton, D.C. regained ninth place in population size. overtaking Houston, which lost population between 1986 and 1987. Ear- lier in the decade, Washington had been passed in population first by Houston and then by Dallas-Fort Worth.

Phoenix has been the fastest growing metro area of one million population or more, increasing by 30 percent from 1980 to 1987. followed by Dallas-Fort Worth. at

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METRO TRENDS / 227

27 percent. Among all metro areas, Naples dOcala,Floridaleadinpopulationp~th since 1980, each increasing by nearly 50 percent. Seven of the 10 fastest growing areas are now in Florida

Las Cruces, New Mexico, and Orlando, Florida are new to the 1987 list of the 10

fastest-growingmetroareas,replacing three areas fiom last year’s list-Anchorage, Alaska (sixth); Midland, Texas (seventh); and Bryan-College Station, Texas, which dropped out of a tie for 10th place.

Table 2 lists the nation’s fastest growing metro areas, regardless of size:

Table 2 Fastest Growing U.S. Metro Areas

Naples, Florida Ocala, Florida Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Florida Fort Pierce, Florida Austin, Texas Melboume-Titumille-Palm Bay, Florida West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Delray

Las Cmces, New Mexico Orlando, Florida

Beach, Florida

(127,900) (18 1,300) (294,600) (215,400) U38.000) (374,900)

U90.100) (128.800) (934.700)

+49% +48% 44% 4 3 % +38% +37%

+34% +34% +34%

Nearly one-fifth of the nation’s metro areas have been losing population during the 1980s. Twenty-nine of the 54 areas losing population are in the Midwest and 12 are in the Northeast, including five with more than one million population. They areBuffalo (-5Spercent). Pittsburgh(J.2 percent), Detroit (-2.6 percent), Cleveland (-2.4 percent), and Milwaukee (--05 percent).

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1988 General Election Voter Turnout Down Three Percentage Points

Fifty-seven percent of the voting age population went to the polls in last November’s general election, according to areport issued bytheUnitedStatesBureau of the Census. The turnout was down from 60 percent in the 1984 elections. It is the first drop in presidential election tumout since 1976, and marks the lowest voting rate recorded by the bureau since it began conducting the survey in 1964.

The voting rate declined for all age groups except the population age 65 and

1989


over, whose 69 percent turnout did not change significantly from 1984. The turnout rate for those aged 25 to 44 dropped from58 percentto 54percentwhiletherate for those aged 45 to 64 was down from 70 percent to 68 percent. For those aged 18 to 24, the turnout dropped from 41 percent in 1984 to 36 percent in 1988.

The survey showed that 58 percent of women and 56 percent of men said they voted, both down from theii 1984 levels.

Black tumout fell from 56 percent in 1984 to 52percent in 1988, while the white rate dropped from 61 percent to 59 percent. Hispanic voting dropped from 33 percent to 29 percent. The report notes that 37 percentofHispanics inthesurvey werenot United States citizens.

Other results of the survey include: Midwesterners had the highest re-

gional turnout, at 63 percent. People with four or more years of

college had the highest turnout among educational categories, at 78 percent.

.Family householders owning their own homes voted at a much higher rate (70 percent) than did renters (40 percent).

Voting rates totaled 58 percent for those who were employed compared with 39 percent for the unemployed.

The report notes that although official counts of the number of votes actually cast IastNovember werenot available when the. report was written, news media have indi- cated about 50 percent of voting age persons went to the polls. It adds that data from the surveys are subject to sampling variability and response errors, and that despite differences between survey esti-

mates and official counts of the turnout, the survey provides useful measures of differences in voting behavior among population groups.

Copies of Voting and Registration in the Election of November 1988 (Advance Report. Series P-20. No. 435) are available from: Superintendant of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Commercial-Industrial Property Tax Revenue Sharing in Twin Cities Metro

Property tax revenue generated by approximately two billion dollars of commercial and industrial property will be shared by municipalities in the seven- county Twin Cities metro area of Mirme- sota The Metropolitan Revenue Distribu- tion Act, enacted by the Minnesota Legis- lature in 1971, seeks to reduce fiscal dis- parities among political sudivisions by directing that revenue produced by 40 percent of new non-residential construc- tion be deposited in the municipal equity account of the state treasury. The funds are distributed to local governments in acmr- dance with a need and population formula.

The assessed valuation of commercial- industrial pro pert^ in the Twin Cities area increased by approximately 12 p e n t to $6.8 billionduring the 1988 tax year. In the 52municipalities with populations exceed- ing 9,000, the ratio between the highest and lowest commercial-industrial tax base per capita is four to one. Without the tax base sharing program. the ratio would exceed

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METRO TRENDS / 229

21:l.

If the comparison is made with all cities and townships, regardless of population size, the difference in the tax base per capita is 17:l. Without the tax base revenue sharing program, the ratio would be 1701.

Cities with the largest commercial-industrial base per capita continue to experi- ence the fastest rate of growth in tax base. Thirty-three of the 188 municipalities in the metropolitan area contribute more to the regional pool than they receive back, with approximately 15 percent of the cities Bccounting for the bulk of the net Contribu- tion.

Minneapolis, during the first ten years of the law’s operation, received more from the fund than it contributed. Growth in the city’s taxbaseduring the past five yearshas resulkdinitsbeeorning anetcontribum to the fund. South St Paul is exempted from contributing to the fund but the city re- ceives contributions from the fund.

Report Heralds Coming Era of “Strategic Localism”

TheBureau of Governmental Research and Service of the University of Oregon has published Current and Emerging Roles for COGs in Oregon. The report notes that Oregon’s 13 regional councils of governments (COGS) have entered a significant new era: one of “strategic localism.” The current challenges to the COGS is to gener-

ate local support for essential regional ar- rangements and mechanisms which were sustained largely from state and federal sources during the prior era of “federal and state incentives and requirements.”

The 82-page report documents the rise and fallof these federal and state incentives and requirements from 1966 through the late 1970s and describes how COGS have responded to the changing circumstances of the 1980s. There are new opportunities for COG involvement, but they require regional councils to be more strategic and entrepreneurial in taking advantage of the devolution of federal domestic programs

on the other hand, the report identifies constraints that may p v i d e barriers to COGS in pur- suing theseemergingopportunities, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Oregon COGs as they face the future.

to state and local governments.

”he report summarizes interviews with over 70 representatives of state and local government,education, andthepivatesec- tor. Based on the interviews, it identifies several issues of state government concern in which COGS might make a specific contribution, including economic development, humanservioes,physical-environmental resources. and general government and technical assistance.

Copies of Cwren! and Emerging Roles for COGs in Oregon are available from the Bureau(P.O.Box3177.Eugene. OR 97403- 0177) for $12.95.

1989


Frisco Bay Voters Approve Public Works Referenda

OnNovember 8,1989. voters in the San FranciscoBay AreaofCalifornia, approved three referenda designed to improve trans- portationandprotect open space. Regional Measure 1-which appeared on the refer- endum ballot in seven counties-author- izes the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to establish a uniform one dollar toll on the seven state-owned toll bridges in the Bay Area. The measure also provided for increases in truck tolls on the bridges.

Contra Costa County voters approved a measure-Measure C - a half-cent sales tax for transportationprojectr. It will raise approximately $800 million over the next twodecadesforprojectssuchas aBay Area RapidTransit (BART)systemextensionto North Concord and West Pittsburgh, and improvements to two major highways.

Measure C is distinctive in being asso- ciated with a growth-management plan. To qualify for the receipt of sales tax revenue, local governments must initiate action to keep traffic kom expanding and ensure that basic services keep pace with economic growth.

Voters in Alameda and Contra Costa counties approved a $225 million bond proposal to provide funds to protect open space. Measure AA is designed to main- tain the quality of life in the East Bay during a period of expezted population growth. The East Bay Regional Park Dis- trict will use the funds to 1) acquire 27,000 acres of open space, 2) add 139 miles of

hiking, horse, and biking trails, 3) expand existing parks. and 4) create new parks.

Consent Decree Outlines Plan for Mississippi R. Clean Up

The U.S. Department of Justice an- nounced on January 19, 1989, that the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District (MSD) has agreed to make massive improvements in a sewage-treatment system that has been a significant source of pollu- tion in the Mississippi River. MSD has estimatedthat the sewage-systemimprove- merits will cost about $430 million.

Assistant Attorney General Roger J. Marzulla, head of the Land and Natural Resources Division, reported that MSD agreed to make the system improvements in a proposed consent decree filed by the Department in the United States District court in St. Louis.

The Decree concludes a civil complaint filed by the Justice Department in March 1988 charging MSD with violating the Clean Wata Act by discharging improperly treated sewage into the Mississippi River. The complaint also asked that MSD be required to end the violations and com- ply fully with the Act.

The consent decree requires the con- struction of major additions and modifica- tionsfortheBissel1 Point sewage treatment facility, the largest of the 46 MSD plants serving a 560 square-mile area that in- cludes the city of St Louis and suburban areas in St. Louis County.

The modifications to the Bissell Point plant will enable the facility to meet the

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limitations oneffluent discharges set under the Act andmustbecompletedno later than Decemberl, 1993.accordingtothedecree.

The decree also requires the MSD to constructnew facilitiesforinterceptorlines andpumping stations incertainportionsof the sewer system to help eliminate over- flows of raw or improperly treated sewage.

In addition. the decree stipulates MSD will improve another plant, the Baumgart- ner facility, and demolish three other small plants whose functions will be taken over by the system’s improved facilities.

The case was developed jointly by the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.

At a Glance ... Dept. of Justice Sues for W e Counly Lan&iil Clean Up

The Department of Justice, on Septem- ber 29.1988, filed a complaint under the Superfund Act against Metropolitan Dade County (MDC). Florida, asking the court toorderthe countytocleanupa30year-old landfill it operates. At the same time, the federal government and MDC filed a consent decree to settle the dispute.

If approved by the Court, the consent decree would require MDC to clean up the Northwest 58th Street Municipal Landfill site near Medley, Florida, which MDC operated from 1952 through 1982. The landfill was one of three sources of potential groundwater contamination investi- gated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as part of its Biscayne Aquifer Superfund Study.

The consent decree would require the closing of the landfill operation in accor- dance with state and federal environmental regulations, long-term monitoring of groundwater quality. and operation and maintenance procedures that would ensure the quality of the remedial actions.

MDC also agreed to reimburse the federal government $809.000 fur costs in- cmed by the government in connection with the site and to cooperate withthe EPA inproviding informationtothepublicabout the site.

The consent decree also makes MDC liable for penalties of up to $3,000 a day if itfailstocomplywiththepoposedconsent decree. D.C. Area Conference Addresses Drug Abuse

A report of the proceedings of the first regional conference to address the problems of drug abuse and violence in the Washington, D.C. metro area has been publishedby theMetropolitan Washington Council of Governments (1875 Eye Street, N.W., Washington,D.C.20006-5454,$30). The conference was held in April 1988 to seek regional solutions to the problems d a t e d with increasing drug use in the region.

The conference focused on three ap- proaches to fighting drug abuse: preven- tion and education, treatment and rehabili- tation, and law enforcement and criminal justice. Participating in the conference were experts in each field as well as health officials. social workers, police officers, and judges.

1989


Metro D.C. COG Recruits Fosler Parents

Responding to a critical shortage of foster families in the Washington, D.C. area, the Metropolitan Washington Cow- cil of Governments has launched a major region-wide foster parent recruitmentcam- paign. By calling one number-833- HOPE-interested persons can receive in- formation on training support, and costs involved in becoming a foster parent.

There are about 1,200 foster homes in the metro area to support the more than 4,000 children in the foster care system. During the past two years, local governments have only been able to increase this number of foster homes by 177, approximately 15 percent. During the same period, there has been a 7 l percent increase in requests for placement of children into foster care. The need is particularly acute for parents who will take infants or adoles- Cents.

Potential foster parents includenot only ‘hditional families,” but also single parents, apartment dwellers. and couples with both parents working outside the home. Depending on the jurisdiction, foster parents are reimbursed for child care and medical costs in addition to receiving a

Denver RTD Contracts Some Routes; Sign@cantOp&nalSavingsA&i- Paled

A 1988 Colorado law requires the Denver Regional Transportation District (RTD) to contract competitively 20 percent of its public transit service over a two- year period. The law is the first one in the United States mandating competitive con- tracting for bus services.

The Regional Transportation District awarded a five-year contract to Mayflower Contract Services of Overland Park, Kan- sas, to operate 45 peak buses, or 8.06 percent of the RTD system. for agross operating and capitalcostof $19.8 million. Eight companies submitted proposals. May- flower Contract Services is the nation’s second largest school bus company. operating more than 5,000 buses on a daily basis.

Mayflower’s operating and capital costs will be $28.25 per service-hour in the first year, rising to $32.75 in the fifth year. RTD’s current internal cost, exclusive of capital and administration costs, is more than $50.00 per service-hour, suggesting that the fmal cost savings may be higher than the minimum estimated savings of 20 to 30percent, or fivemillion to 80.5 million dollars. RTD may use the savings for increased services, lower taxes, or capital

standard monthlv “board” allowance. development.

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Metro trends

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