Rutherford Metro Government?

Trousdale likely won’t be last to consolidate By MARTA W. ALDRICH, Associated Press

Commission expected to finalize plan for metropolitan government by Russel Mobley, Tennessean State Correspondent

Education There have been votes in the past to consolidate Murfreesboro city and Rutherford county school systems. There is a disparity in teachers' pay and overall funding of the city and county school systems, evidenced by Murfreesboro ranking 45th in the state and Rutherford County 68th in the state in local spending per student.

Planning Another improvement would be single control of growth issues and their impact on education. With one body responsible for planning, a single focus and one set of standards can be applied to land use, roads and other items such as new school locations and parks. Development codes and regulations will be consistent county-wide.

The Benefits

Improved Accountability One governing body responsible for all county tax collections and expenditures. Common goals. Common issues. The La Vergne library comes to mind as an example.

Elimination of redundancy One county executive. One legislative body. One school superintendent. One school board. One police chief. One zoning board. One planning commission. You get the idea.

County-wide standards From Milton to Eagleville, From Kitrell to Mona, From Rockvale to Lascassas or Leanna to Blackman, one set of rules. Each area will have the same responsibilities and the same rights, but reserve the option of retaining its local flavor and uniqueness. (There could be urban and non-urban service areas with different tax structures for each)

What needs to be done?

2800 or so registered voters have to sign a petition.

A charter commission needs to be formed.

A vote needs to be taken. Rutherford County's Strategic Plan. Scroll down to page 11.

Strategy 4
Investigate the Charter form of county government.

Strategy 5
Investigate metropolitan government and allow the citizens to vote on it in a referendum.

In Closing

While this may sound like I am Pro-Metro Government, I am really Pro-Lets-Really-Do-The-Research. I don't know if Metro is the answer or not. But I sure would like some folks far smarter than I to look into it and see whether it is or isn't.