NATCHEZ &045; Mention the idea of consolidated government to longtime and former politicians in Natchez and they get a mysterious twinkle in their eyes.

It’s the spark of recognition &045; and maybe a little bit of skepticism. They fought that fight for a long time, to no avail.

For former mayor Tony Byrne, the fight went back to his days with the chamber of commerce and later to his years of elected office.

&uot;It’s a better time right now because of the closing of IP,&uot; Byrne said.

And Byrne is glad to see others take up the cause.

The city and county have talked tentatively about consolidation in recent weeks; the subject has come up at budget hearings, aldermen meetings and most recently at a political forum sponsored by the chamber of commerce.

The legal process

Almost everyone agrees it would take a vote of the people as well as legislation and a constitutional amendment. Other communities in Mississippi are currently looking at consolidation.

City Attorney Walter Brown said he would expect consolidation to take three to five years to complete.

That is partly because the state constitution must amended to allow for such a form of government, and legislation must be introduced for Natchez-Adams County.

But that doesn’t mean local government officials cannot start the process now.

In fact, Brown said aldermen plan to ask supervisors and the area’s state legislative delegation to a meeting after the Nov. 4 general election to go over a legislative wish list for the next session.

That, he added, could very well include a request for a consolidation bill to be introduced during the next session.

It would not be the first time &045; lawmakers have introduced such bills at least twice before. &uot;We’ve been discussing this for 30 years,&uot; Brown said.

The continued tightness of the city and county’s budgets make this the time to move forward with consolidation, Brown said, adding that he believes such a government would be &uot;more efficient and more accountable.&uot;

In 1992 and 1993, legislation was proposed to amend the state constitution for communities that wanted to consolidate municipal and county governments.

That legislation could not get support from both houses.

As recently as last spring’s regular session of the Legislature, Rep. Greg Snowden, R-Meridian, proposed similar legislation. His bill, though, would have amended the constitution to allow local and private legislation &045; considered easier to pass than other bills &045; to allow cities and counties to consolidate in the manner they wished. The legislation died in committee.

Even if the state approved legislation, and if city and county voters approved consolidation, the U.S. Justice Department would have to be involved, said state Sen. Bob M. Dearing, D-Natchez.

That’s because any changes in voting have to be precleared by the Justice Department in accordance with the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Getting support

Dearing admits wryly that he lost his first bid for the Adams County Board of Supervisors in 1971 because consolidation was part of his platform.

But Dearing said he is still for consolidation and would support legislation to consolidate if the city and county asked him to do so.

State Rep. Philip West, D-Natchez, would not say whether he would support such efforts until he saw what local leaders might propose.

&uot;It depends on what’s entailed in the legislation,&uot; he said. &uot;The devil’s in the details.&uot;

Board of supervisors President Lynwood Easterling said consolidation is &uot;an excellent idea.&uot;

&uot;The tax assessor’s office is a prime example&uot; of a service already consolidated between the city and the county, Easterling said. &uot;Fire would be another one.&uot;

The city and county spent a few weeks this fall squabbling over fire protection. The county pays the city for extra fire protection from the Natchez Fire Department, but the two governments could not agree on a cost until the last minute before they had to submit their budgets.

But Easterling &045; who has opposed city annexation efforts in the past &045; said there are &uot;a lot of things I would not be for.&uot;

Annexation opponents have contended that the city would not be able to extend quality services to county residents &045; and that they do not want to live under the same restrictions, such as zoning, that city residents have.

But Byrne believes such arguments can be countered. For example, the county does need zoning regulations.

&uot;(Not having regulations) sounds great until they put a strip join next to you,&uot; Byrne said. &uot;You’ve got to have some kind of orderly succession of growth.&uot;

And he would like to see more services provided outside city limits, which has grown as new subdivisions are built.

&uot;We ought to get more services out to the county than we get,&uot; he said.

One of the major problems opponents have with consolidation, Byrne said, is the possibility that county residents’ tax bills will increase. But Byrne pointed out that other costs to residents would likely decrease &045; such as homeowners’ insurance. That’s because the city has a better fire rating than the county.

While it’s a word politicians don’t always like to touch, Byrne said annexing some neighborhoods outside the city might help garner public support for consolidation.

The city last year said it was abandoning plans to annex the corridors along U.S. 61 north and south of Natchez. That annexation would have brought more businesses into city limits but few residences.

Keeping Natchez’s identity

Byrne’s administration never got past the study stage, so no proposals for what kind of consolidated government the area might have have been made.

&uot;I don’t know whether it should be a county or municipal form of government,&uot; Byrne said.

But and county officials would have to make sure it does not lose valuable incentives from the state for being a municipality &045; sales tax proceeds, for example, Byrne said.

Beyond that, officials would have to make sure that the historic city on the Mississippi retains its character.

&uot;We’re going to have to be very careful Natchez does not lose its identity,&uot; Byrne said.

&uot;But you still say Nashville, you still say Jacksonville,&uot; he said, referring to large municipalities that consolidated with the county years ago.