In a meeting Monday morning with Post-Dispatch editorial writers and reporters, St. Louis County Executive Charlie A. Dooley said a city-county merger would go a long way towards hearling the area's economic malaise, while also making government more efficient.

Dooley, a Democrat who is running for re-election in November against Republican Bill Corrigan, said that such a union may be feasible in the not-too-distant future.

He said he would be willing to discuss the issue with St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay.

"We need to (merge)," Dooley said. "The chances now are better than before but the city officials of St. Louis are not all on the same page on this issue because they have constituencies that they answer to."

Slay has made similar suggestions over the years, including after his inauguration in 2009.

Dooley also said that he would work to consolidate services among the county's 91 municipalities, especially police and fire departments.

Dooley told the board that infrastructure and development projects, including the I-64 reconstruction, the Missouri Highway 141 connector project and the NorthPark business park, were keys to attracting jobs to the area.

Dooley said he did not foresee layoffs in next year's county budget, which he must submit to the County Council by Nov. 1. But he also said that it looked like county employees would be denied raises for a third straight year.

"I believe that if taxpayers have to work within their budgets, then we should work within ours," he said.

Looking back on his seven years in office, Dooley cited a couple of regrets.

"If I had it to do over again, I would communicate better on trash (districting) and property assessments," he said.

The trash districts that the county established in 2008 have generated plenty of controversy. They also spawned four lawsuits. In one of them, a judge ruled last week that the county should have given trash haulers two years notice before starting the program. The county said it would appeal the ruling.

However, Dooley defended the trash districts as popular, economical and environmentally sound.

As for property assessments, Dooley noted that the county lowered most residential property values last year. He said residents who got lower assessments but still paid more in taxes should not blame the county for their predicament.

School districts, he said, should bear the brunt of the blame, as they account for about 60 percent of a typical resident's tax bill.

Dooley was asked if he resented taking the heat for the school districts which are raising tax rates and, in the vast majority of cases, giving raises to teachers and staff while county employees' salaries, including his, are frozen.

He said, "I don't begrudge them. I guess they can afford to give raises. I would give them, too, if we could afford it. But we can't."