When an Independent City reverts back to the status of an incorporated town it gives up the responsibility for maintaining a public school system and a court system, which devolves to the county. So if a city that crossed into two counties reverted to incorporated town, it would mean that the residents of those areas would be served by the schools and courts of the respective counties. It could get a bit sticky and I suspect that an urban area with population of Richmond would not follow that path. The town usually maintains some law enforcement, street care, water and sewer service, building codes, etc., while letting the county provide such things as schools, courts and jails, and libraries. The downside is that residents get two tax bills, for more services of course, that depending on how elaborate the town services get can become quite burdensome. The upside is that towns can much more readily annex adjunct suburban areas, with their valuable tax base, than can independent cities since such annexation takes that area completely off the county's tax rolls. Jim Hershman T Greg Evans wrote: > The City of South Boston was the first to revert several years ago, and > in 2001 the City of Clifton Forge reverted. I know Charlottesville > extorts a lot of money from Albemarle by threatening reversion. All of > these are clearly "part" of a specific county. What happens if a city > like Richmond which has territory taken from two counties reverts? > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html