Members of Boothbay's Board of Selectmen are asking their counterparts throughout Lincoln County if they would like to talk about doing away with county government.

Board Chairman Charles Cunningham sent out a letter earlier this month to the boards of selectmen in the 19 towns, saying "abolishing county government would eliminate an entire layer of bureaucracy, and could result in more efficient and effective delivery of those few services now performed by the county."

Talk of eliminating county government has surfaced in Maine from time to time, but has never gotten very far. Not so in other states, however. Connecticut and Rhode Island did away with county government over 45 years ago, according to Cunningham's letter.

The money towns must pay to the county, versus the services rendered by the county appear to be the main complaint.

"The town of Boothbay has been charged over $1 million by Lincoln County government," Cunningham said in his letter. "That's more than the town's budget for our own operations for the year."

"We question whether the services provided by the county are worth this amount. In fact, we are not clear on exactly what the county does." Cunningham lists the services provided by the county, including the sheriff's department, the jail, and the 911 service.

"These are important functions," Cunningham says. "However we do not see that the county government is the most effective means for performing these functions. The land records are maintained by the county, but this service is more than fully funded by fees. Our court, although a county court in name, is in fact a state court."

Cunningham noted that services provided by county governments around the country vary a great deal. While New England states have traditionally focused on town or city governments, that's not true in parts of the south and west, where counties are often responsible for such big-ticket items as highways, welfare, and education.

Wiscasset town manager Arthur Faucher said he expects to bring up the issue at Tuesday night's selectmen's meeting to see if there is interest in pursuing talks with Boothbay.