The Government of Metropolitan Areas in the United States

The developments which have taken place in the government of Cuyahoga County, though not so significant as those which have been considered, are nevertheless interesting. The area of the county is six and a half times that of the city. Eighty-five per cent of its population and 73 per cent of its assessed valuations lie within the city of Cleveland.¹

The government of the county is composed of a board of three commissioners and the usual retinue of independent elective officers. Its structure is the same as that of any other county of Ohio. The county assesses property and collects taxes not only for itself and for the state but also for all the other municipalities and civil divisions within it. The county sometimes builds bridges and viaducts within the limits of the city and contributes funds (generally one-third of the cost) for the pavement of certain city streets. This is generally done where the bridges or viaducts lie on important arterial roads which presumably serve the entire county, or where the streets, originally located in county territory, were not officially taken over by the city following annexation of the territory to the city. There are nevertheless many streets, connecting with the most important county highways and carrying a heavy county traffic, to the paving of which the county makes no contribution. Among the bridges built by the county the following are the largest:

Sewerage and water pipes are being extended into the suburban and rural territory, under the Ohio Sanitary Laws, by the county sanitary department. The procedure is for the county commissioners first to create sanitary districts. This they can do

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