#13Investigates: Has consolidation benefited Macon-Bibb County?

More than four years ago, Bibb County and the City of Macon consolidated. Voters approved that change, after city and county officials made promises about the benefits of merging.

For almost two years, 13WMAZ’s Mary Grace Shaw has sat in weekly commission meetings, covering the business of Bibb County Commissioners as they have navigated the consolidated government. During that time, the county has made difficult decisions especially when it comes to the budget.

Now, the county is heading to a point where they could drain their savings in just a few months, but was it not the promise of consolidation to create a more efficient government?

Mary Grace Shaw dug into our archives to find the statements Mayor Robert Reichert originally made about consolidation and did some research to see whether those statements held up.

For nine years, Alan Parker says he has called a house on Lake Tobesofkee home. During that time, Parker says the house has not changed but the cost has.

“My property taxes have gone up several hundred dollars over the last couple of years,” says Parker.

Parker lives inside of what used to be the Bibb County lines. He says when he learned the city and county would consolidate, he saw some benefits, like combining the sheriff and police departments.

“If there was an accident even out here, they didn’t really know which department to respond,” says Parker.

But when it comes to property taxes, he tells a different story.

“Well, the interesting thing about that is that the valuation of the home has gone down, but the taxes have gone up $500 over those years,” says Parker.

According to tax records from 2012 to 2017, Parker's property value went down more than $6,000. At the same time, his property taxes went up nearly $500.

But what about other property owners?

Shaw sat down with Bibb County Tax Commissioner, Wade McCord, and pulled the tax records from 2013, prior to consolidation, and 2017, after consolidation, for three properties in the old county lines and three in the old city lines. All six properties were assessed at the same value both years.

The records show that all the city homeowners are still saving money, and all the county homeowners are paying more even without the old fire tax that county homeowners paid.

And unless a houses value changed, McCord says that trend is the same across the county.

“It’s based on hard numbers. The people in the old county are paying more in property taxes, and the people in the old city are paying less in property taxes,” says McCord.

So what did Mayor Robert Reichert say about this?

“Their taxes were going to go up anyway,” says Reichert.

Reichert says at the time of consolidation, the county was building three new fire stations that would have cost county homeowners a two to four millage rate increase.

When it comes to efficiency, Reichert made this pre-consolidation prediction in 2013:

“To make us more efficient and more effective,” says Reichert, which he says says still stands true.

“So we're operating at $20 million less than what we were operating with prior to consolidation,” says Reichert.

But we showed the mayor another prediction he made about the budget in 2013.

“Overall, the combined governments of Macon-Bibb County into the new consolidated government is going to be a financial powerhouse,” says Reichert.

“What I didn’t say in that interview was that it was going to be overnight economic powerhouse. It takes a while to build,” says Reichert.

Reichert says with several industries, like Amazon, coming to Macon, they are getting closer to doing that. When it comes to what might have happened if they did not consolidate, Reichert says no one will ever know.

“You don't ever know what the other road would've turned out to,” says Reichert.

Who is to say what changes the city and county would have seen if they did not consolidate, but we can see what has happened since they consolidated.

So is consolidation working? That is for you to decide.