CONSOLIDATION OF LOCAL HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS: THE CASE OF ADAMS COUNTY AND THE CITY OF HETTINGER

The consolidation of local jurisdictions' road/street activities may be one way of economizing in road-related expenditures or providing better service to the motoring public. The experience of Adams County and the City of Hettinger road department consolidation, which took effect on November 1, 1984, is the focus of this report. Several features appear to have contributed to the apparent success of this merger of activities. First, a compelling need was felt by the city to search for alternatives to its existing system. Second, a combination of the expertise of the existing county road superintendent and a willingness of the two governing boards to work together provided an atmosphere conducive to implementing a consolidation plan. Finally, the size of the county and city and the scope of each operation seemed to be appropriate for a workable consolidation. Conspicuous by its absence from this report is information concerning budget outlays before and after consolidation of the Adams County and Hettinger road departments. This is because of the relative newness of the operation; no specific figures regarding actual cost savings are available. A subjective evaluation of service levels made by the road superintendent suggests that county services have remained basically unchanged while city services have improved considerably. Therefore, the major advantage has been in improved service rather than cost savings.

• Record URL:
  https://www.ugpti.org/resources/reports/details.php?id=75
• Corporate Authors:

  Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute

  North Dakota State University
  1320 Albrecht Boulevard
  Fargo, ND  United States  581052

  North Dakota State Highway Department

  State Highway Building, Capitol Grounds
  Bismarck, ND  United States  58505
• Authors:
  • Zink, D L
• Publication Date: 1986-4

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures;
• Pagination: 22 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Benefits; Cities; Cooperation; Counties; Local government; Maintenance management
• Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; I10: Economics and Administration; I60: Maintenance;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00488661
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: SP-72
• Files: TRIS, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Oct 31 1989 12:00AM