Much of the debate about whether Coos Bay and North Bend should consolidate into one city is driven not by knowledge but by uncertainty: whether the issue was studied, whether property taxes will rise or fall after a merger, even whether Bay Area residents will have to change their addresses and driver licenses. A charter drafted for the prospective city of Coos Bay-North Bend answers some questions; state officials answered two others.

"No research was done comparing costs in Coos Bay and North Bend with the costs of one city."

In August 2002, the Coos Bay proposed a draft budget, to be compiled by the League of Oregon Cities, for a hypothetical city comprising Coos Bay and North Bend. After North Bend chose not to participate, the League backed out of the study, which instead was compiled by the E.D. Hovee and Company of Vancouver, Wash., an economic services firm of eight, including economists and research, data processing and support personnel.

The study eventually released by Hovee estimated the cost per resident of delivering city services: public safety, public works projects, economic development and administrative costs. In the first and third years of Coos Bay-North Bend's existence, the estimated per capita costs were $911 and $922, respectively.

"People in Coos Bay-North Bend would have to change their addresses."

The unification of the Bay Area cities is unlikely to cause changes in addresses, postal districts or ZIP code numbers, according to Ron Anderson, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service's Portland District, which oversees mail delivery in Oregon and Southwestern Washington.

"I would say annexations or incorporations would not necessitate the realignment of ZIP code boundaries," Anderson said on Friday, noting the boundaries of postal zones are not always identical with urban and county boundaries. The only complication he foresaw was the possible existence of duplicate addresses in each former city, which the Postal Service could change after consulting city and county officials.

Even if North Bend and Coos Bay consolidate, he added, post offices would be able to deliver mail written to one city or the other for several months afterward.

"People in Coos Bay-North Bend would need new driver-license cards."

The Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles has not decided whether new license cards will be necessary for those in the Bay Area, said Kevin Beckstrom, an agency spokesman in Salem. Whether drivers would be able to use their old licenses will depend partly on the ease of updating DMV computers and partly on whether the Postal Service orders address changes in the unified Coos Bay-North Bend.

If the DMV requires address changes on licenses, Beckstrom added, drivers may have to notify the agency of their "new" addresses within the 30-day period normally granted to those who relocate, though the possibility "is not clear-cut," he added.

The best case for Bay Area residents would involve the state successfully programming its computers to recognize two ZIP codes in one city, as they already do for the seven postal districts of Portland.

"We may be able to program the database to recognize (residents) as being in a new municipality," Beckstrom said.

"North Bend High School will be closed and all the high schoolers moved to Marshfield."

The charter for the unified Coos Bay-North Bend calls only for the melding of the two city administrations, not their school districts, which are separate entities. No mention of schools or educational districts is made in the document.

"North Bend will become responsible for Coos Bay's debts."

Section 40.2 of the Coos Bay-North Bend charter ties each city's current debts solely to its own taxpayers, even after consolidation. The clause reads:

The territory that constituted the City of Coos Bay shall remain solely liable for the debts, of whatever kind or nature, that existed in that city prior to consolidation; and the territory that constituted the City of North Bend shall remain solely liable for the debts, of whatever kind or nature, that existed in that city prior to consolidation.