As the chair of the House Local Government Committee, it is my duty to ensure that residents receive local government services as efficiently as possible. With 99 counties spread across Iowa with a vast variation of population and size, this is not always easy. In many instances there are duplicated services that can be streamlined and consolidated. For example, the most populous county, Polk County, has 467,711 residents compared to Adams County with 3,796 people.
Counties were created so that people could get to their courthouse in one horse’s day ride. Since most Iowans no longer use a horse and buggy as their primary mode of transportation, county courthouses don't need to be as close as they were to residents more than 150 years ago. Therefore, I hope we will be able to have a robust debate this session about how we can best provide government services and save taxpayer dollars.
The idea to make government more efficient and in turn save taxpayer dollars is not a new one, and neither is the belief that Iowa can responsibly consolidate the exorbitant number of counties. While counties provide needed services, many of these services are provided online, making it unnecessary for people to travel to their local county courthouse for all of the services the county provides.
While proposals have been brought before the Legislature to combine or eliminate counties, we have not seen an elimination of an Iowa county for 150 years. That is why this session I intend to commission a report on the 99 counties and look at cost saving measures that can streamline or consolidate duplicitous layers of government.
STATE REP. JAKE HIGHFILL, R-Johnston, represents District 39. The district includes Johnston, Grimes, Webster Township and Jefferson Township. He can be reached at 281-3221 or jake.highfill@legis.iowa.gov.