Adams Township and Mars Borough, which have publicly announced a proposal for merging into one township, are far from the only pair of municipalities in Pennsylvania that have considered merging in recent years.

According to data provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, seven pairs of municipalities have proposed either a merger or consolidation since the start of this decade. Five were approved by voters.

While none of those were in Butler County, two were in neighboring counties. In Mercer County, a merger of Wheatland Borough into the City of Hermitage was approved by voters in November 2022 and finalized at the start of 2024. In Lawrence County, a merger of South New Castle Borough into Shenango Township was approved in November 2023 and completed at the start of this year.

“Approximately two to three municipalities inquire yearly requesting information regarding potential mergers,” said Justin Backover, DCED spokesperson.

In Pennsylvania, under the terms of the Municipal Consolidation or Merger Act of 1994, there are two ways in which two or more municipalities can join: merger or consolidation.

In a consolidation, all municipalities involved legally cease to exist, making way for the formation of a new municipality. In a merger, one of the parties legally survives, while the rest legally cease to exist.

So far, officials from Adams Township and Mars have exclusively used the word “merger” on official materials and news statements. Mars Borough council member G. Michael Fleming has confirmed the process would be a merger, not a consolidation.

“The borough would essentially merge into the township,” Fleming said Jan. 22.

But it would have a new name, the officials announced at a more recent meeting: Mars Township.

Like snowflakes, no two mergers or consolidations in Pennsylvania are exactly alike. Each one takes place under unique circumstances.

The Wheatland/Hermitage merger, for example, was a classic case of a whale swallowing a minnow. At the time the merger was finalized, the borough of Wheatland had a population of less than 600 residents and only one employee, while Hermitage was already taking care of many of Wheatland’s essential services under contract.

“(Wheatland) had no street services. They had no police services. They entered into a contract with Hermitage in 2016 for police, 2017 for street,” said current Hermitage city manager Gary Hinkson. “The borough had one part-time employee, a secretary.”

The merger — which passed overwhelmingly in both municipalities — brought financial benefits to residents of Wheatland, who saw their tax rates plummet after it was consummated.

“For former Wheatland residents, there were multiple advantages,” Hinkson said. “For residents and businesses, the property taxes dropped from 24.75 mills to 5 mills. There was significant savings on real estate taxes by the businesses and property owners in what was Wheatland.”

Officials from Adams Township and Mars have made similar promises to Mars residents, saying that if the proposed merger goes through, borough residents will most likely see their tax rates slashed drastically from 25.33 mills to 3.75 mills.

Another area where two municipalities became one is in the third-class city of DuBois, in Clearfield County.

This January, the city of about 7,000 residents completed a consolidation with Sandy Township, which surrounds the city on all sides. The combined entity became known as the new City of DuBois, with about 18,000 residents.

The consolidation process took more than four years to complete from the time voters in each municipality approved the merger in the November 2021 election.

The process was nearly derailed by a corruption scandal when, in 2022, DuBois’ former city manager — a strong backer of the consolidation — was charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars in city funds.

The successful vote was the fourth attempt by the municipalities to clear the way for a merger or consolidation. Previous measures failed in 1989, 1995 and 2001. According to the Merger Act of 1994, if a referendum on merger or consolidation fails in one municipality, the measure is defeated and cannot be placed on the ballot again for at least five years.

“It passed by an overwhelming majority in the City of DuBois, and it passed by 11 votes in our township,” said Barry Abbott, the mayor of the new city who previously was a supervisor for Sandy Township. “(We had) a couple of hiccups, but once we all got down to serious business, it went relatively smooth.”

DuBois and Sandy Township’s experience carries a potentially encouraging message for Mars and Adams Township should they decide to merge, as according to Abbott, no employees of either municipality lost their jobs.

“Every position — whether it was public works, police, even administration — every person found a job,” Abbott said. “It might not have been the exact job that they worked, but every person was brought into the new city and they found work.

“That made the whole process much easier to swallow for some of the people.”

Officials from Adams Township and Mars promised the same would be the case if they merged during a public hearing held Jan. 22, stating if the merger were approved, all Mars employees would be offered employment with the newly merged township.

Not all merger or consolidation proposals are successful, however.

According to Backover, two of the seven municipal combinations proposed since 2020 in Pennsylvania were ultimately defeated by voters.

These were a proposed consolidation between Wallaceton Borough and Boggs Township in Clearfield County in 2022 and a proposed merger of Barnett Township into Eldred Township in Jefferson County in 2023.

According to Terri Cunkle, local government specialist for the DCED, the Wallaceton/Boggs merger vote passed in Boggs Township, but failed in Wallaceton by only nine votes. The Barnett/Eldred merger vote lost in both municipalities by only two votes.

Closer to home, in 2010, Slippery Rock township and borough considered merging. That effort failed when residents of both places voted no.

For the merger in Mars and Adams Township to go ahead, a majority of voters in both municipalities will have to vote “yes” to approve it in the November general election.

If that happens, based on the text of the referendum, the transition process would be set in motion from that day forward and the date of completion would be set for Jan. 1, 2028.

Between now and November, the muncipalities’ leadership have said future public hearings would continue to be held regarding the proposed merger. No dates, however, have immediately been announced.

Related Article: Slippery Rock Township still not interested in merging with borough