Worth considering
Local officials seeking ways to save taxpayers’ money would be wise to look north to Beaver County.
There, officials from Beaver Borough are exploring merger talks with some neighboring municipalities.
Led by Lauson Cashdollar, the borough has adopted a two-part policy that:
n Calls for Beaver to “actively explore the possibility of merging or consolidating our municipal government with those of both Vanport (Township) and Bridgewater.”
n Says Beaver will “aggressively explore” entering into “cooperative agreements” with Vanport, Bridgewater and Brighton Township to save money as municipalities continue to tighten their belts.
Cashdollar has looked down the road and seen what’s coming: State and federal dollars are going to be few and far between, while local populations continue to shrink and age.
“We cannot indulge ourselves with the kind of small communities that we have in the past,” he said. “The money is not unlimited. It’s going to decline. The cost of services is going to go up.”
He said a Beaver-Bridgewater-Vanport merger would start with several advantages. The three communities, along with Brighton Township, form the Beaver Area School District. They are geographically contiguous, flowing seamlessly into each other. They would not be mammoth in terms of population (a little over 7,000 combined) or size (3.1 square miles).
Change of some sort in inevitable, and Beaver officials should be commended for wanting to move in a positive direction.
And just in case you think something like this could never happen, think again. Beaver County broke ground earlier this year with the voluntary merger of the Monaca and Center school districts into the new Central Valley School District, which, by the way, won the Class AAA WPIAL football championship this past season.
When the Center Area and Monaca school districts started discussing the possibility of a voluntary merger, naysayers said it would never happen. Each district had its traditions; too many people were against it; neither community wanted to lose its identity; local politics would get in the way; etc., etc. etc.
Yet two years ago, the two districts merged to become Central Valley. The impossible happened because a core group of administrators and school directors in both districts recognized that the status quo was no longer maintainable.
Municipalities across Pennsylvania, including here in Fayette County, are finding themselves in the same position. Costs are going up while revenue is stagnant or declining. Population and economic growth aren’t on the horizon and probably never will be. For us all, it’s a matter of managing decline.
Like Beaver County, Fayette County has many small municipalities who have much in common with each other. While mergers may be too radical a step right now, all local officials should at least look into the benefits of consolidating services.
The sooner Fayette County’s public officials follow the example of those in Beaver Borough, the better off we’ll all be.