The United States is becoming a country of urban dwellers. Much of this urbanization is occurring outside of the legal city in what is called the urban fringe. Among the solutions advanced to deal with the problems of urban sprawl is the annexation of such areas by the central city. Before annexation can become a reality, its feasibility from a cost-revenue approach must be assessed. This was accomplished by dividing the urban fringe of Bowling Green, Kentucky, into nine study areas and investigating the costs incurred by the city for the provision of services associated with annexation as compared to the expected revenues to be obtained from these sections. Costs were derived by analyzing the expenditures for each city service. This was done by examining the past budgets for each department. The analysis was accomplished by translating municipal services into measurable units of activity and determining the actual expenditure per unit or performance for each activity. The services analyzed were fire and police protection, the transportation system, and general government. The expected revenue from the annexation units was obtained for four major sources -- fines and forfeitures, and personal, property, and occupational taxes. The two components, costs and revenues, were compared. This resulted in a net surplus or deficit for the provision of services to each sector after annexation. Among the conclusions reached in this study is that the cost-revenue concept is an important aspect of annexation, but should not be the only consideration. The fringe residents' tie to the city and the threat of small scale incorporation are among the questions which should be answered before any annexation is instituted.
","abstract_html":"<p>The United States is becoming a country of urban dwellers. Much of this urbanization is occurring outside of the legal city in what is called the urban fringe. Among the solutions advanced to deal with the problems of urban sprawl is the annexation of such areas by the central city. Before annexation can become a reality, its feasibility from a cost-revenue approach must be assessed. This was accomplished by dividing the urban fringe of Bowling Green, Kentucky, into nine study areas and investigating the costs incurred by the city for the provision of services associated with annexation as compared to the expected revenues to be obtained from these sections. Costs were derived by analyzing the expenditures for each city service. This was done by examining the past budgets for each department. The analysis was accomplished by translating municipal services into measurable units of activity and determining the actual expenditure per unit or performance for each activity. The services analyzed were fire and police protection, the transportation system, and general government. The expected revenue from the annexation units was obtained for four major sources -- fines and forfeitures, and personal, property, and occupational taxes. The two components, costs and revenues, were compared. This resulted in a net surplus or deficit for the provision of services to each sector after annexation. Among the conclusions reached in this study is that the cost-revenue concept is an important aspect of annexation, but should not be the only consideration. The fringe residents' tie to the city and the threat of small scale incorporation are among the questions which should be answered before any annexation is instituted.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Dibble, Jeanne M."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Department of Geography and Geology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wayne Hoffman, James Davis, James Bingham"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1974,"date_issued":"1974-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"1974-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:26Z","subjects":["Western Kentucky University","Bowling Green","Kentucky","Demography, Population, and Ecology","Geography","Human Geography","Urban Studies and Planning"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1339","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Wayne Hoffman, James Davis, James Bingham"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Dibble, Jeanne M."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Department of Geography and Geology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Western Kentucky University","Bowling Green","Kentucky","Demography, Population, and Ecology","Geography","Human Geography","Urban Studies and Planning"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1339"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The United States is becoming a country of urban dwellers. Much of this urbanization is occurring outside of the legal city in what is called the urban fringe. Among the solutions advanced to deal with the problems of urban sprawl is the annexation of such areas by the central city. Before annexation can become a reality, its feasibility from a cost-revenue approach must be assessed. This was accomplished by dividing the urban fringe of Bowling Green, Kentucky, into nine study areas and investigating the costs incurred by the city for the provision of services associated with annexation as compared to the expected revenues to be obtained from these sections. Costs were derived by analyzing the expenditures for each city service. This was done by examining the past budgets for each department. The analysis was accomplished by translating municipal services into measurable units of activity and determining the actual expenditure per unit or performance for each activity. The services analyzed were fire and police protection, the transportation system, and general government. The expected revenue from the annexation units was obtained for four major sources -- fines and forfeitures, and personal, property, and occupational taxes. The two components, costs and revenues, were compared. This resulted in a net surplus or deficit for the provision of services to each sector after annexation. Among the conclusions reached in this study is that the cost-revenue concept is an important aspect of annexation, but should not be the only consideration. The fringe residents' tie to the city and the threat of small scale incorporation are among the questions which should be answered before any annexation is instituted.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Feasibility of Annexation: A Cost-Revenue Approach for Bowling Green, Kentucky"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Wayne Hoffman, James Davis, James Bingham"],"dc:creator":["Dibble, Jeanne M."],"dc:description.abstract":["The United States is becoming a country of urban dwellers. Much of this urbanization is occurring outside of the legal city in what is called the urban fringe. Among the solutions advanced to deal with the problems of urban sprawl is the annexation of such areas by the central city. Before annexation can become a reality, its feasibility from a cost-revenue approach must be assessed. This was accomplished by dividing the urban fringe of Bowling Green, Kentucky, into nine study areas and investigating the costs incurred by the city for the provision of services associated with annexation as compared to the expected revenues to be obtained from these sections. Costs were derived by analyzing the expenditures for each city service. This was done by examining the past budgets for each department. The analysis was accomplished by translating municipal services into measurable units of activity and determining the actual expenditure per unit or performance for each activity. The services analyzed were fire and police protection, the transportation system, and general government. The expected revenue from the annexation units was obtained for four major sources -- fines and forfeitures, and personal, property, and occupational taxes. The two components, costs and revenues, were compared. This resulted in a net surplus or deficit for the provision of services to each sector after annexation. Among the conclusions reached in this study is that the cost-revenue concept is an important aspect of annexation, but should not be the only consideration. The fringe residents' tie to the city and the threat of small scale incorporation are among the questions which should be answered before any annexation is instituted.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1339"],"dc:subject":["Western Kentucky University","Bowling Green","Kentucky","Demography, Population, and Ecology","Geography","Human Geography","Urban Studies and Planning"],"dc:title":["The Feasibility of Annexation: A Cost-Revenue Approach for Bowling Green, Kentucky"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Department of Geography and Geology"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:08:26Z"}