A UKIP councillor says he intends to vote against joining the proposed West Midlands combined authority in October.
Lichfield District Council will decide next month whether or not to join the group.
Conservative leader Mike Wilcox has insisted the agreement will not see Lichfield and Burntwood governed from Birmingham.
But Cllr John Mills, UKIP representative for Fazeley, believes a West Midlands link-up would take democratic accountability away from local residents.
Cllr Mills pointed to Manchester, which rejected an elected mayor in 2012 only to have an interim one appointed three years later.
He explained: “I will be voting against the West Midlands link-up in October.
“We don’t need another layer of government bureaucracy that will take democratic accountability even further away from the public.
“Manchester voted against having an elected mayor in 2012, and yet three years later they had one who was initially unelected.
“The Government haven’t listened to the people of Manchester, and that is another reason as to why I will be voting against the West Midlands link-up.
“But I am sure the Conservative ruling group will get their way on it.”
