Making Sense Out of Iowa's 947 City Governments

Iowa has more municipalities than 46 of the other 49 states. If one counts school districts but does not count other special purpose districts, Iowa has just over 1,400 local governments. We have been discussing school district and county consolidation for years but  67% of local governments in the state are municipalities that generally do not lend themselves to consolidation. Does it matter how many municipalities there are and if so what can be done, especially given that over 650 of these municipalities have less than 1,000 residents?

Historically the large number of communities in Iowa can be traced to the state's agrarian culture where it was advantageous to have towns every few miles in order to move agricultural goods and supplies. Most of these communities thrived during the height of Iowa's development. Today, with modern transportation, electronic communications, shopping on-line and regional mails many of these towns survive artificially. They are bedroom communities, or exist. prumarily on government transfer payments, such as welfare and social security.

Most states classify cities based on size and/or functions. Some use a number classification like Nebraska and others use more descriptive classifications such as "village", "town" and "city". In Iowa we have no classifications. A city of 50 residents has virtually the same rights, powers and responsibilities as a city of 200,000 population. Other states may give larger cities super powers when it comes to annexation to minimize urban sprawl. Nebraska is an example of this, where Omaha and Lincoln are the only cities in its highest classification. Others may require more reporting or service provision from larger cities but provide more state revenue sharing to them.

Iowa has 100 cities with 100 or less residents. What services can a city of this size really provide to its residents in a cost effective manner? On the other side of the equation, how much motor fuel tax revenue or other state revenue sharing should the state be expected to allocate to such small local governments? Can they use it effectively and does the administration of such grants cost more than the grant amount? Now consider that 20 of these "cities" have less than 50 residents an six have less than 25 residents. Is there a point where they should be dissolved automatically? Consider Beaconsfield with 11 residents and Benton with 13 residents. Do they even have enough eligible voters to fill the elected positions?

In 2003, the City of Kent, Iowa voted to dissolve its city government and be governed by the county. There were a number of news reports that lamented the disappearance of this town off the map. The fact of the matter is that Kent effectively stopped functioning as a local government decades ago and we should applaud the action of the electorate to recognize that they were wasting resources, both in time and money to continue as a municipality. Many more communities should follow their lead. The fact of the matter is that Kent with a population of 52 people was far from being the smallest municipality in the state.
I suggest that Iowa go to a classification system with different rights and responsibilities for each. Below I suggest three classes but I could envision dividing the largest cities into two groups of cities of 50,000 population and above and the other from 15,000-35,000 population.

Twenty-four cities with populations of 15,000 and over population would make up Class I cities. This classification would have all of the powers now allowed cities in Iowa but might also have some powers relating to transit, urban redevelopment, annexation or other issues allowed only large cities. There share of state revenues may be different as well.


The next classification would include all of the communities between 501-15,000 population or class II cities. Certainly there is a big difference between Batavia and Indianola, but these are all communities that are large enough to be viable on their own. For the most part, they have enough critical mass and tax base to function as an independent general-purpose local government. There will be significant differences in the number and level of service provided but all will generally provide all of the essential government services, customarily associated with a municipality. This category would include approximately 450 communities. Communities in this category would generally have all of the powers and responsibilities that Iowa cities have today, but probably little more.

There are just under 500 communities of 500 inhabitants or less that compose the final classification. 100 of them have 100 or less residents but are still considered a city by Iowa law! These are communities that in almost all instances have been declining in population for decades and have lost the ability to provide basic municipal. services to its residents from either a cost effective or quality standpoint. There are a number of apartment complexes in Iowa's metropolitan areas that have more than 500 residents at any one time, let alone 100!

These communities have ceased to exist as viable economic units. There is very little if any manufacturing, processing or distribution employment and extremely limited retail activity. In the 100 smallest communities there is virtually no economic activity and hardly no tax base to sustain a local government. In these 480 communities it makes perfect sense for the community to have the county assume responsibility for waste water, water, solid waste, street, law enforcement, parks and other essential services.

For this, the county would be allowed to tax these communities at a higher rate than than others. As part of this re-classification, these smallest communities would not receive state revenue sharing from liquor profits, road use tax fund or other state grants-in-aid. Some of this would be re-allocated to larger communities where the cost benefit is much greater and a percentage may go to the counties that will be responsible for assuming a greater role in these communities.

A few activities and services would stay at the community level such as the local fire department, cemetery and and community celebrations or events. I suggest that these communities at least those with populations of less 250 population form "Town Hall" forms of government where all those of voting age get together as a group and decide issues facing the community. The largest of these communities probably has less than 350 voting age adults certainly a large meeting but nothing that could not be handled at a local church or school, especially since 100% attendance would he extremely rare.  These communities would be classified as towns or perhaps villages. The state may also want to consider a provision that disolves any municipality that falls below 50 people at the time of the U.S. Decennial Census.

Certainly consolidation of cities does occur, most of the time in metropolitan areas but Dallas and Melcher two small contiguous communities merged not that many years ago. Others like Humboldt and Dakota City or the several cities ringing Lake Okoboji would be other candidates. This or shared services by these cities could cut costs and possibly provide better services. There certainly has been talk of city-county and city-city consolidation in the Des Moines metropolitan area. I have thoughts on these issues, as well but it is too complicated to advocate a solution in a blog.

For now, it would be great if we could classify cities to make their rights powers and responsibilities more consistent with reality.