LEE COUNTY – A meeting of the state’s Department of Government Efficiency Wednesday is giving county officials a little heartburn Thursday.
The Iowa DOGE committee met for the second time Wednesday and this time tossed out an idea around consolidating the state’s counties, a move that has Lee County Supervisor Garry Seyb taken aback.
“The weight, breadth, and depth of that statement is staggering,” Seyb said about the committee’s proposal.
According to a copyrighted report in Thursday’s Des Moines Register, Terry Lutz a member of the task force, said when the state was formed in 1846, 99 counties made sense, but today the counties “…don't need bigger buggy whips to go faster. We need to embrace technology to gain efficiency."
Emily Schmitt, the DOGE Task Force chair, said the idea was discussed as feedback from Iowans.
No real specifics were provided as part of the discussion Wednesday except it would require passage of two general assemblies and a simple majority vote of Iowans to change the state constitution.
Seyb said the devil may very well be in those details.
“I understand the premise and the thought behind wanting to be more efficient and gathering efficiencies by combining. But I think we’ve also been a very big proponent of home rule and local control. Counties are different – a Polk, or Story vs Lee or Van Buren,” he said.
“I see the potential for up front savings, but how large of a geographic area would that be for say an auditor or a sheriff? I’m not sure a larger responsibility doesn’t come with a bigger paycheck. I don’t know how much savings would be in each of those areas, but you gotta put that on the table to look at.”
Lee County Supervisor Chair Denise Fraise said she’s not surprised by the discussion.
“They’ve got some good points,” she said. “But I’m not surprised. Not at all. I knew it was coming. They’ve been talking about it for years. This group of legislators - I think they want to take home rule away.”
Fraise said the procedure for consolidating counties alone would take years and she said she thinks it would pass a simple majority vote of Iowans if they attached it to individual savings.
“If they made it seem like it would save money, that’s what voters go for. How is it going to affect me and my pocketbook,” she said. “You have political people that are more savvy but the good majority of voters are worried about their pocketbooks. If it was sold that way, it would pass.”
Seyb said he’s heard rumblings in the past, but this is the first time he’s heard it discussed publicly.
“I was taken aback by it immediately. That’s a big swing. That’s not a little change and not your normal legislation,” he said. “Fundamentally you would be changing the look of Iowa and its representation. You have to do that cautiously and not be flippant about it.”
Seyb said legislators would also have to consider the second and third order effects of that kind of a change, but fortunately it isn’t anything could come quickly and people need to express their opinions about the idea.
“People need to understand what services they are getting for theirmoney. When we look to regionalization, do we ever really get leaner and more efficient? I would ask people to ask themselves that.
Fort Madison Mayor Matt Mohrfeld, who has served as a county supervisor and has been vocal about governmental overreach, said he was impressed by the idea initially, but echoed Seyb’s comments about the devil being in the details.
“I was impressed that they had the understanding to not dive into tinkering with taxes and thinking that moving a dollar here and there saves money,” he said.
“In theory, I like what they’re thinking. But it means something different in Polk County than it does in southeast Iowa. The devil is in the details.”
He said there may be some political fortitude in starting to look at that kind of consolidation, but there will always be local policy.
“There’s always going to be room for local policy whether it’s regional, county, city, or township,” he said. “The short answer is I applaud the concept and I’m glad they’re looking at consolidation from real dollars and not with levies.”
Fraise said one of her fears is that Lee County would get thrown in with a bigger county.
“It's not going to be a once size fits all. I would worry what happens if we get thrown in with bigger counties.”
But she said it could impact current decisions county supervisors are making with this discussion looming around the state.
“It might affect what we do in the here and now. In theory, maybe we don’t have to spend time on consolidating courthouses now.”
State Sen. Jeff Reichman said the state needs to decide if it wants a path to lower taxes, including consolidation of county services, but he said he would not support eliminating state counties.
State Rep. Blaine Watkins said it may be too early to react to it.
"I think it’s something to look into. But I don’t know if there’s an appetite for that in the legislature to be honest with you. I just don't want to attribute anything to it until they have had the time to complete their work and give their recommendations," he said.
The Iowa DOGE board doesn't meet again until August with final recommendations expected in September.
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