The Wisconsin Counties Association is opposing a bill that would reduce the number of counties from seventy-two to eighteen.
WCA's Mark O'Connell says it's not because they feel seventy-two is a perfect number, he doesn't think picking a number arbitrarily is the way to go.
O'Connell says consolidation is a good discussion to have but there needs to be more study. O'Connell says demographics will change. Baby boomers are getting older. More people will need services provided by the state and counties.
So, O'Connell says, more time is needed to study trends. Where will be living in fifty, seventy or a hundred years. Take a closer look at who will need county services, where they will live and then a decision on what is the best way to deliver those services.
The Wood Communications Group conducted a telephone survey of five hundred registered voters statewide for the WCA. Eighty percent said they would tell their lawmaker to vote against reducing the number of counties from seventy-two to eighteen.
Fifty-nine percent said such a decision should be made by demographers, academics and trend analysts rather than legislators.
O'Connell says a decision on reducing counties shouldn't come hastily because the consequences could last decades.