It shall be the duty of the commission to study and investigate (a) the functions of local government, their proper allocation, and the possibility of eliminating unnecessary functions, and the duplication and overlapping of functions, (b) the cost of local government, and ways and means of reducing this cost and lessening the burden on local taxpayers, (c) the advisability and feasibility of increasing the areas or changing the boundaries of local governments; of establishing larger units for administration by consolidation of units by cooperative arrangements between them for the performance of certain functions, or by other means; and generally ways and means of organizing a simple system of local government, and to exercise such other functions as may be deemed necessary to carry into effect the spirit and intent of this act.