Committee recommends merging City of Omaha, Douglas County.

After more than a year of interviewing government officials and employees, consulting with national experts, and reviewing the literature, a citizen's committee recommended in June the full merger of the City of Omaha and Douglas County.

"The City of Omaha and Douglas County should merge into a municipal county, work to commence immediately, and that functional consolidations begin immediately in as many departments as possible, including but not limited to parks, fleet management, facilities management, local planning, purchasing, and personnel," the committee's report reads.

According to the report, 84.1 percent of the population of Douglas County resides in the City of Omaha, and an additional 10.7 percent resides within the city's extraterritorial jurisdiction. The committee recommends that the City of Omaha explore the annexation of neighboring Elkhorn, as well as a number of other smaller cities and special districts, to preserve the vitality of the central city and promote a regional approach to planning.

The committee found many duplicative services and functions between the two governments, and determined that a structural merger would increase the...