A charter has been proposed to unify the city and county governments in Bernalillo County.
The charter has been under way for decades and was narrowly voted down last November. Voters cast 66,794 votes against the unification and 41,863 in favor of it.
County Commissioner Alan Armijo, a proponent of the charter, said unification is necessary, because Albuquerque comprises 81 percent of the county.
"It would create a lot less duplication in the government," he said. "We'll still have a big bureaucracy, but the combining of the governments will cut down on the number of people needed in those departments."
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We've all seen the signs that say voting for the charter would equal higher taxes. And we've all seen the ones that claim a vote for the charter would be mean lower taxes. Armijo said there is no proof that taxes will go up or down.
Patrick Baca, chair of the 2004 unification charter commission, said taxes will increase in the rest of the county - but not in Albuquerque - and the charter will help decrease inequity between the two systems.
He said Albuquerque is paying more in county taxes than unincorporated areas, but less money is spent in the city.
"County government collects 73 percent of their revenue within municipal limits," Baca said. "Only 28 percent of the revenue is spent within the municipal limits. But in the unincorporated area, they collect 27 percent but spend 72 percent."
People who oppose the measure argue if the charter is passed, the new government would place too much power with too few people.
Timothy Krebs, associate professor of political science at UNM, said in an e-mail the major downside to unification is how it affects the distribution of the political power in metro areas.
"A change of this magnitude almost always means the interests of some people and groups are going to be harmed," he said. "In this case, county interests fear they won't have as much power to control their destiny under the new arrangement as they have under the current arrangement."
Krebs said the way a system is set up has a lot to do with the success of a unified local government.
"One might also argue the imposition of an unelected manager - as would happen in this case - limits the power of elected officials to affect the day-to-day functioning of local government," he said. "In cities with elected chief executives, there's a greater ability for elected officials to control the bureaucracy, which some might view as good."
Baca said people in the areas outside of the metro area demand urban services, such as fire stations and sheriff substations, and the city government pays for them.
"The reason why city government subsidizes county government is the county government got in the bad habit of depending on it," he said.
The county has too much control over land use for Albuquerque citizens, Baca said, and this charter will alleviate that.
"It controls the extension of water and sewer for the whole metropolitan area," he said. "Eventually unification has to come about, because we are one community and people feel we have to be fair and equitable with taxes."
The county commissioners who oppose the charter, Baca said, fear losing their jobs because there will be a reduction of three officers in both city and county governments.
"They are all overlapping anyhow," he said.
Michael Brasher, county commissioner for District 5, opposes the charter. He told the Albuquerque Journal last year's charter failed, because people don't really believe the bureaucracy will be simplified.
The name of the new government would be Albuquerque-Bernalillo County. Under the government, there would still be an elected mayor and his or her salary will be raised from $93,204 to $112,000. The mayor would then select a county manager to oversee the directors of county departments.
UNIFICATION PROS AND CONS
PROS:
* Eliminate duplication in city and county governments, which would make for greater efficiency in services, such as trash, water, etc.
* Provide equal taxes for city and county residents.
* New government may be more effective in attracting large corporations to the area, which would benefit economic growth.
CONS:
* Raise taxes in unincorporated areas of Bernalillo County.
* Too much centralized power for too few government officials.
* Unelected city manager may take some power away from the people.
