JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville consolidated its government 46 years ago to make practically all of the city and Duval County one.
But there are problems that have arisen from this unique form of government -- everything from roads to the city's pension plan.
The Task Force on Consolidated Government is trying to make sure local government is running in a way that best serves Jacksonville residents, and it found some problems that have never been fixed.
The task force on Tuesday submitted a 120-page report on restructuring that the City Council will begin to review.
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"Overall, I think it's doing well," City Council President Clay Yarborough said. "There are challenges, but we also have a lot of opportunities that we can now identify in black and white, just like the task force did. We can look at challenges and where to grow."
In the 1960s, Channel 4 made a documentary about the benefits of consolidation and what it meant to Jacksonville.
Back then, the newscaster at the time illustrated numerous problems that a then-fragmented county had that consolidation could solve.
The issues facing the city now are different, and some problems affect different neighborhoods across town.
"Whether it is one area that's very concerned about parking, and another area about failing infrastructure, and another area with big roads because it's growing rapidly," Councilwoman Lori Boyer said.
"I think the central services issue is a big issue," Councilman Bill Gulliford said. "The neighborhood disconnect is a glaring reality that came out of that process."
Residents can expect a lot of referendums showing up on ballots in coming years on what needs to change in Jacksonville so that the largest city by area in the contiguous U.S. can make sure everyone's neighborhood never gets overlooked.
"The citizen dissatisfaction, which we believe stems from the fact that consolidated government is big, and their concerns are very local in nature, and they feel like they can't break through the system and get a particular service in their neighborhood," Boyer said.
City leaders will meet later this week to start outlining changes that can be made. One thing being batted around is increasing the number of terms for members of the City Council from two to three so there's not as much turnover with city employees.
One area the task force says the city is doing well in is with the business community, which doesn't have to deal with multiple governments.