85-557: The Bega Valley Shire is a local government area located adjacent to the south-eastern coastline of New South Wales , Australia. The Shire was formed in 1981 with the amalgamation of the Municipality of Bega , Imlay Shire and Mumbulla Shire , with its name deriving from the town of Bega . The shire is also known as the Sapphire Coast for tourism and marketing purposes. During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season ,
170-474: A charter city . In some states, large areas have no general-purpose local government below the county level. Town or township governments are organized local governments authorized in the state constitutions and statutes of 20 Northeastern and Midwestern states, established to provide general government for a defined area, generally based on the geographic subdivision of a county. An additional dimension that distinguishes township governments from municipalities
255-544: A mayor or president . Alternatively, the institution may be of the council–manager government form, run by a city manager under direction of the city council . In the past the municipal commission was also common. Across the US, local governments employ more than ten million people. The ICMA has classified local governments into five common forms: mayor–council , council–manager , commission , town meeting , and representative town meeting . In addition to elections for
340-588: A unitary authority , but the Australian Bureau of Statistics refers to the whole of the ACT as an unincorporated area. The ACT Government directorate Transport Canberra & City Services handles responsibilities that are under the purview of local government in other parts of Australia, such as local road maintenance, libraries and waste collection. Many Canberra districts have community organisations called "community councils", but these are not part of
425-422: A city can, either by separating from its county or counties or by merging with one or more counties, become independent of any separately functioning county government and function both as a county and as a city. Depending on the state, such a city is known as either an independent city or a consolidated city-county . A consolidated city-county differs from an independent city in that in a consolidated city-county,
510-437: A coastline of 225 km (140 mi), with 101 beaches and 26 estuaries . Around 78% of the area belongs to various national parks and state forests. The biggest industry is the production of timber , followed by dairy farming and other agriculture. Smaller industries include fishing, oyster harvesting, and tourism . The Biamanga National Park includes important Aboriginal sites. The area extends from Bermagui in
595-488: A council or mayor, elections are often also held for positions such as local judges, the sheriff , prosecutors, and other offices. Local governments across the US consist of hundreds of thousands of elected officials. Local elections are often marked by "abysmally low" voter turnout , as these elections are de-synchronized from state and federal elections. A 2009 study found that less than 40% of registered voters participate in local elections for mayor and city council. Turnout
680-638: A fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021 , and the makeup of the Council is as follows: The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is: Local government in Australia [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Local government is the third level of government in Australia , administered with limited autonomy under
765-534: A geographic or historical interpretation. The council board members are generally known as councillors , and the head councillor is called the mayor . As of August 2016, there were 547 local councils in Australia. Despite the single tier of local governance in Australia, there are a number of extensive regions with relatively low populations that are not a part of any established LGA. Powers of local governments in these unincorporated areas may be exercised by special-purpose governing bodies established outside of
850-545: A larger workload. The growth of the Regional Organisations of Councils has also been a factor in local government reform in Australia. In 1995, there were 50 such agreements across the country. A 2002 study identified 55 ROCs with the largest involving 18 councils. Local government powers are determined by state governments, and states have primary responsibility for funding and exclusive responsibility for supervision of local councils. Local government
935-615: A loose association with authorities in London . Representative government sprung up spontaneously in various colonies, and during the colonial years, it was recognized and ratified by later charters. But the colonial assemblies passed few bills and did not conduct much business, but dealt with a narrow range of issues, and legislative sessions lasted weeks (occasionally longer), and most legislators could not afford to neglect work for extended periods; so wealthier people tended to predominate in local legislatures. Office holders tended to serve from
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#17327941106681020-633: A sense of duty and prestige, and not for financial benefit. Campaigning by candidates was different from today's. There were no mass media or advertising. Candidates talked with voters in person, walking a line between undue familiarity and aloofness. Prospective officeholders were expected to be at the polls on election day and made a point to greet all voters. Failure to appear or to be civil to all could be disastrous. In some areas, candidates offered voters food and drink, evenhandedly giving "treats" to opponents as well as supporters. ––Ed Crews. Taxes were generally based on real estate since it
1105-403: A shift from 'services to property' towards 'services to people'. Community expectations of local government in Australia have risen in the 21st century partly as a result of wider participation in decision-making and transparent management practices. Recent years have seen some State governments devolving additional powers onto LGAs. In Queensland and Western Australia LGAs have been granted
1190-650: A single function, but, in some instances, their enabling legislation allows them to provide several, usually related, types of services. The services provided by these districts range from such basic social needs as hospitals and fire protection to the less conspicuous tasks of mosquito abatement and upkeep of cemeteries. The Census Bureau classification of special district governments covers a wide variety of entities, most of which are officially called districts or authorities. Additionally, U.S. courts have ruled that there are smaller areas which are to be considered as fulfilling government functions, and should therefore be bound by
1275-587: Is a convenient basis for understanding local government in the United States. The categories are as follows: County governments are organized local governments authorized in state constitutions and statutes. Counties and county-equivalents form the first-tier administrative division of the states. The county equivalents in Louisiana are called parishes , while those in Alaska are called boroughs . All
1360-545: Is common for residents of major U.S. metropolitan areas to live under six or more layers of special districts as well as a town or city, and a county or township . In turn, a typical metro area often consists of several counties, several dozen towns or cities, and a hundred (or more) special districts. In one state, California , the fragmentation problem became so bad that in 1963 the California Legislature created Local Agency Formation Commissions in 57 of
1445-457: Is highest among homeowners, the elderly, and the wealthy. While their territory nominally falls within the boundaries of individual states, Indian reservations actually function outside of state control. The reservation is usually controlled by an elected tribal council which provides local services, and some reservations have their own determined subdivisions. Navajo Nation is divided into five agencies. The most local form of government in
1530-531: Is mentioned in the annotated Australian constitution, as a department of the State Governments, and they are mentioned in the constitutions of each of the six states. Under the Constitution, the federal government cannot provide funding directly to local governments; a 1974 referendum sought to amend the Constitution to authorise the federal government to directly fund local governments, but it
1615-447: Is part of a local government area. Unincorporated areas are often in remote locations, cover vast areas, or have very small populations. Queensland and Tasmania are entirely partitioned into LGAs and have no unincorporated areas. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has no municipalities. The ACT government is responsible for both state-level and local-level matters. In some countries, such an arrangement would be referred to as
1700-504: Is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state/territory it belongs to. The functions and practices of local councils are mostly centered around managing public services and land uses at the community level, and are similar throughout Australia, but can vary to some degree between jurisdictions. State departments oversee the activities of local councils and may intervene in their affairs when needed, subject to relevant legislation. For more details in each state and territory, see
1785-640: Is the City of Brisbane , the most populous LGA in the country, which administers a significant part of the Brisbane metropolitan area . In most cases, when a city's population statistics are used, it is the statistical division population rather than the local government area. The following table provides a summary of local government areas by states and territories by local government area types as of December 2023: The Australian Classification of Local Governments (ACLG) categorises local governing authorities using
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#17327941106681870-822: Is the historical circumstance surrounding their formation. For example, towns in New England are also defined by a tradition of local government presided over by town meetings — assemblies open to all voters to express their opinions on public policy. The term "town" is also used for a local level of government in New York and Wisconsin . The terms "town" and "township" are used interchangeably in Minnesota . Some townships or other incorporated areas like villages , boroughs , plantations , and hamlets have governments and political power; others are simply geographic designations. Townships in many states are generally
1955-664: The Local Government Act does not mandate adopting a designation, some local government areas are legally known simply as "council", such as Port Macquarie-Hastings Council , Inner West Council and Federation Council . Some rural areas in South Australia are known as "district council", and all the LGAs in Tasmania that were previously municipalities have been renamed "council". Almost all local councils have
2040-505: The Outback Communities Authority . Victoria has a number of unincorporated areas which are not part of any LGA: Western Australia has two unincorporated areas: Local government in the United States [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Most U.S. states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities . Louisiana uses the term parish and Alaska uses
2125-735: The Pastoral Unincorporated Area in South Australia . Local governments are subdivisions of the six federated states as well as the Northern Territory . The Australian Capital Territory has no separate local government, and municipal functions in Canberra and the surrounding regions (normally performed by local governments in other states) are performed by the ACT territorial government. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), however, considers
2210-805: The Top End region, the Northern Territory Rates Act Area and Darwin Waterfront Precinct within Darwin , Nhulunbuy on the Gove Peninsula , Alyangula on Groote Eylandt , and Yulara in Central Australia . In South Australia , 63% of the state's area is unincorporated. Residents in this area – less than 0.2% of the state's population – receive municipal services provided by a state agency,
2295-779: The U.S. Virgin Islands has districts , and American Samoa has districts and unorganized atolls . Each Indian Reservation is subdivided in various ways. For example, the Navajo Nation is subdivided into agencies and Chapter houses , while the Blackfeet Nation is subdivided into Communities . When North America was colonized by Europeans from the 17th century onward, there was initially little control from governments back in Europe . Many settlements began as shareholder or stockholder business enterprises, and while
2380-652: The United States , there is only one tier of local government in each Australian state/territory, with no distinction between counties and cities . The Australian local government is generally run by a council , and its territory of public administration is referred to generically by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as the local government area or LGA , each of which encompasses multiple suburbs or localities (roughly equivalent to neighborhoods) often of different postcodes ; however, stylised terms such as "city", " borough ", " region " and " shire " also have
2465-537: The states and territories , and in turn beneath the federal government . Local government is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia , and two referendums in 1974 and 1988 to alter the Constitution relating to local government were unsuccessful. Every state/territory government recognises local government in its own respective constitution . Unlike the two-tier local government system in Canada or
2550-480: The " incorporated places" that are recognized in Census Bureau reporting of population and housing statistics, although the Census Bureau excludes New England towns from their statistics for this category, and the count of municipal governments excludes places that are governmentally inactive. Municipalities range in size from the very small (e.g., the village of Monowi, Nebraska , with only 1 resident), to
2635-399: The Census Bureau, despite the fact that they are legally municipal corporations , since their structure has no necessary relation to concentration of population, which is typical of municipalities elsewhere in the United States. In particular, towns in New England have considerably more power than most townships elsewhere and often function as legally equivalent to cities, typically exercising
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2720-699: The NMI are used as county equivalents by the U.S. Census, but Guam is treated as a single county. ) There are no municipal governments in the District of Columbia and the United States Virgin Islands ; only the district-wide and territory-wide governments under federal jurisdiction. In addition to general-purpose government entities legislating at the state, county, and city level, special-purpose areas may exist as well. Conservation districts are one such type of special purpose area, created for
2805-783: The Navajo Nation is the Chapter , which deals with local responsibilities expected of a municipal government. A census of all local governments in the country is performed every five years by the United States Census Bureau , in accordance with 13 USC 161. (not including insular areas ) * note: Municipalities are any incorporated places, such as cities , towns , villages , boroughs , etc. ** note: New England towns and towns in New York and Wisconsin are classified as civil townships for census purposes. The following sections provide details of
2890-510: The U.S. during the 1920s, according to one source, in which state law gave certain townships or other local governing bodies authority to decide how land was used; a typical zoning ordinance has a map of a parcel of land attached with a statement specifying how that land can be used, how buildings can be laid out, and so forth. Zoning legitimacy was upheld by the Supreme Court in its Euclid v. Ambler decision. The Tenth Amendment to
2975-583: The US Census Bureau's data collected in 2012, there were 89,004 local government units in the United States. This data shows a decline from 89,476 units since the last census of local governments performed in 2007. Each of the five permanently inhabited U.S. territories is also subdivided into smaller entities. Puerto Rico has 78 municipalities , and the Northern Mariana Islands has four municipalities. Guam has villages ,
3060-640: The United States Constitution makes local government a matter of state rather than federal law, with special cases for territories and the District of Columbia . As a result, the states have adopted a wide variety of systems of local government. The United States Census Bureau conducts the Census of Governments every five years to compile statistics on government organization, public employment, and government finances. The categories of local government established in this Census of Governments
3145-651: The ability to raise taxes or fees, fine members for infractions against association-rules, and initiate lawsuits. The question of civil rights in such communities has not yet been conclusively determined, and varies from state to state. School districts are organized local entities providing public elementary and secondary education which, under state law, have sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments. The category excludes dependent public school systems of county, municipal, township, or state governments (e.g., school divisions ). Special districts are all organized local entities other than
3230-519: The area was devastated by fire, with 448 houses being destroyed by fire and approximately 365,000 hectares burned, which is 58% of the Shire's total land mass. The estimated population as at the 2021 census was 35,942. The current mayor is Russell Fitzpatrick, an independent who joined the Liberal Party in 2023. The shire covers 6,040 square kilometres (2,330 sq mi), and includes
3315-702: The city and county both nominally exist, although they have a consolidated government, whereas in an independent city, the county does not even nominally exist. Such a jurisdiction constitutes a county-equivalent and is analogous to a unitary authority in other countries. In Connecticut, Rhode Island, and parts of Massachusetts, counties exist only to designate boundaries for such state-level functions as park districts or judicial offices (Massachusetts). In Puerto Rico, Guam, and Northern Mariana Islands, there are municipalities (villages in Guam) and no counties. (Municipalities in PR and
3400-764: The county in which they would otherwise be a part. In some states, particularly in New England, towns form the primary unit of local government below the state level, in some cases eliminating the need for county government entirely. Many rural areas and even some suburban areas of many states have no municipal government below the county level. In addition to counties and municipalities, states often create special purpose authorities, such as school districts and districts for fire protection, sanitary sewer service, public transportation , public libraries , public parks or forests, water resource management, and conservation districts . Such special purpose districts may encompass areas in multiple municipalities or counties. According to
3485-453: The entire ACT as an " unincorporated " local government area, even though it is technically a state-level administrative region . Although all essentially identical in functions and jurisdictions, Australian local governments have a variety of different titles. The term "local government area" (LGA) is used by the ABS to collectively refer to all local government administrative zones regardless of
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3570-504: The first half of the 20th century was the provision of physical infrastructure such as roads, bridges and sewerage. From the 1970s the emphasis changed to community facilities such as libraries and parks, maintenance of local roads, town planning and development approvals, and local services such as waste disposal. Child care, tourism and urban renewal were also beginning to be part of local governments' role. These are financed by collection of local land taxes known as "rates", and grants from
3655-448: The first time. Significant reforms took place in the 1980s and 1990s in which state governments used metrics and efficiency analysis developed within the private sector in the local government arena. Each state conducted an inquiry into the benefits of council amalgamations during the 1990s. In the early 1990s, Victoria saw the number of local councils reduced from 210 to 78. South Australia, Tasmania and Queensland saw some reductions in
3740-415: The following: The Australian Capital Territory is not divided into local government areas, so it is regarded as a single "unincorporated" local government area during censusing . Unlike many other countries, Australia has only one level of local government immediately beneath state and territorial governments. Aside from very sparsely populated areas and a few other special cases, almost all of Australia
3825-613: The four categories listed above, authorized by state law to provide designated functions as established in the district's charter or other founding document, and with sufficient administrative and fiscal autonomy to qualify as separate governments; known by a variety of titles, including districts, authorities, boards, commissions, etc., as specified in the enabling state legislation. A special district may serve areas of multiple states if established by an interstate compact . Special districts are widely popular, have enjoyed "phenomenal growth" and "nearly tripled in number" from 1957 to 2007. It
3910-477: The full range of powers that are divided between counties, townships, and cities in other states. In New England, towns are a principal form of local municipal government, providing many of the functions of counties in other states. In California , by contrast, the pertinent statutes of the Government Code clarify that "town" is simply another word for "city", especially a general law city as distinct from
3995-501: The government (though they generally receive government funding). They do not have the power to change laws or policies, and their role is limited to advising government. They are effectively residents' associations . New South Wales has three unincorporated areas: In the Northern Territory , 1.47% of the total area and 3.0% of the population are in unincorporated areas. These include the Cox-Daly and Marrakai-Douglas Daly areas in
4080-542: The king of Britain had technical sovereignty, in most instances "full governmental authority was vested in the company itself." Settlers had to fend for themselves; compact towns sprung up based as legal corporations in what has been described as "pure democracy": The people, owing to the necessity of guarding against the Indians and wild animals, and to their desire to attend the same church, settled in small, compact communities, or townships, which they called towns. The town
4165-468: The late 1990s, "a movement, frequently called 'New Regionalism', accepts the futility of seeking consolidated regional governments and aims instead for regional structures that do not supplant local governments." Unlike the relationship of federalism that exists between the U.S. government and the states (in which power is shared), municipal governments have no power beyond what is granted to them by their states. This legal doctrine, called Dillon's Rule ,
4250-628: The local legislation, as with Victoria 's alpine resorts ; or directly administered by state/territory governments, such as the entirety of the Australian Capital Territory . The administrative area covered by local government councils in Australia ranges from as small as 1.5 km (0.58 sq mi) for the Shire of Peppermint Grove in the Perth metropolitan region , to as big as 624,339 km (241,059 sq mi) for
4335-553: The mayor is elected by the board of fellow councillors . The powers of mayors vary as well; for example, mayors in Queensland have broad executive functions, whereas mayors in New South Wales are essentially ceremonial figureheads who can only exercise power at the discretion of the council. Most of the capital city LGAs administer only the central business districts and nearby central suburbs . A notable exception
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#17327941106684420-441: The municipality and the county have been merged into a unified, coterminous jurisdiction—that is to say, these counties consist in their entirety of a single municipality whose city government also operates as the county government. Some counties, such as Arlington County, Virginia , do not have any additional subdivisions. Some states contain independent cities that are not part of any county; although it may still function as if it
4505-631: The names of LGAs, and today the stylised titles of " town ", " borough ", " municipality ", " district ", " region ", "community government", " Aboriginal council/shire" and "island" are used in addition. The word "municipality" occurs in some states with differing meanings: in New South Wales it is typically used for older urban areas, and the word is used for some rural towns in South Australia . Larger towns and small metropolitan exurban centres in Queensland and Western Australia simply use
4590-478: The north to the Victorian border in the south and includes the towns of Bega , Tathra , Merimbula , Tura Beach , Wolumla , Cobargo , Bemboka , Pambula , Pambula Beach and the former whaling port, tourism hotspot, and major port of Eden . Smaller localities include: Bega Valley Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward . All councillors are elected for
4675-649: The number of local governments while Western Australia and New South Wales rejected compulsory mergers. New South Wales eventually forced the merging of some councils. The main purpose of amalgamating councils was for greater efficiency and to improve operations, but forced amalgamation of councils is sometimes seen as a dilution of representative democracy . An increase in the range of services offered by councils, but only minor cost savings of less than 10% have been noted by academics as outcomes after mergers. The council mergers have resulted in widespread job losses and lingering resentment from some whose roles have experienced
4760-619: The part of local governments. There is no mention of local government in the Constitution of Australia , though it is mentioned several times in the Annotated Constitution of Australia. "Municipal institutions and local government" appears in Annotation 447, and "Power of the Parliament of a Colony" appears under "Residuary Legislative Powers" on pages 935 and 936. The first official local government in Australia
4845-818: The population, the population density and the proportion of the population that is classified as being urban for the council. The classification, at the two-digit level, is: All local governments are approximately equal in their theoretical powers, although LGAs that encompass large cities such as Brisbane and the Gold Coast command more resources due to their larger population base. Unlike local governments in many other countries, services such as police, fire protection and schools are provided by respective state or territory governments rather than by local councils. However, local governments still maintain some responsibility for fire service functions within Queensland and Western Australia. The councils' chief responsibility in
4930-414: The power to independently enact their own local subsidiary legislation , in contrast to the previous system of by-laws . Councils also have organised their own representative structures such as Local Government Associations and Regional Organisations of Councils . Doctrines of New Public Management have shaped state government legislation towards increased freedoms aiming to allow greater flexibility on
5015-699: The product of the Public Land Survey System . Municipal governments are organized local governments authorized in state constitutions and statutes, established to provide general government for a defined area, generally corresponding to a population center rather than one of a set of areas into which a county is divided. The category includes those governments designated as cities, boroughs (except in Alaska), towns (except in Minnesota and Wisconsin), and villages. This concept corresponds roughly to
5100-592: The purpose of conserving land, natural scenery, flora, and fauna. There are also numerous " special district governments " in existence throughout the various states. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , such governments are: independent, special-purpose governmental units (other than school district governments) that exist as separate entities with substantial administrative and fiscal independence from general-purpose local governments. Special district governments provide specific services that are not being supplied by existing general-purpose governments. Most perform
5185-538: The purpose of raising money to build roads in rural and outer-urban regions. Council representatives attended conventions before Federation , however local government was unquestionably regarded as outside the Constitutional realm. In the 1970s, the Whitlam government expanded the level of funding to local governments in Australia beyond grants for road construction. General purpose grants become available for
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#17327941106685270-408: The same administrative functions and similar political structures, regardless of their naming, and retain a particular designation ("shire", "borough", "town", "city") for historical reasons only. They will typically have an elected council and usually a mayor or shire president responsible for chairing meetings of the council. In some councils, the mayor is a directly elected figure, but in most cases
5355-690: The same restrictions placed on "traditional" local government bodies. These include homeowners associations (determined in Shelley v. Kraemer , Loren v. Sasser , Committee for a Better Twin Rivers v. Twin Rivers Homeowners' Association ), and company-owned towns (both for employees and for consumers, decided in the USSC case Marsh v. Alabama in 1946). Many homeowners' and neighborhood associations are considered non-profit organizations , but have
5440-493: The state and Commonwealth governments. They are caricatured as being concerned only with the "three Rs": Rates, Roads and Rubbish. However, the roles of local government areas in Australia have recently expanded as higher levels of government have devolved activities to the third tier. Examples include the provision of community health services, regional airports and pollution control as well as community safety and accessible transport. The changes in services has been described as
5525-572: The state governments and became technically municipal corporations . Townships and county governments and city councils shared much of the responsibility for decision-making which varied from state to state. As the United States grew in size and complexity, decision-making authority for issues such as business regulation, taxation, environmental regulation moved to state governments and the national government, while local governments retained control over such matters as zoning issues, property taxes , and public parks. The concept of "zoning" originated in
5610-720: The state's 58 counties; that is, government agencies to supervise the orderly formation and development of other government agencies. One effect of all this complexity is that victims of government negligence occasionally sue the wrong entity and do not realize their error until the statute of limitations has run against them. Because efforts at direct consolidation have proven futile, U.S. local government entities often form "councils of governments", "metropolitan regional councils", or "associations of governments". These organizations serve as regional planning agencies and as forums for debating issues of regional importance, but are generally powerless relative to their individual members. Since
5695-517: The state's constitution. Dillon's Rule is the default rule, but some state constitutions and state statutes provide home rule authority for local governments. State constitutions and statutes which allow counties or municipalities to enact ordinances without the legislature's express permission are said to provide home rule authority. New Jersey , for example, provides for home rule. Under home rule authority, local governments have implicit authority to govern themselves, unless specifically denied by
5780-565: The state, local governments may operate under their own charters or under general law, or a state may have a mix of chartered and general-law local governments. Generally, in a state having both chartered and general-law local governments, the chartered local governments have more local autonomy and home rule. Municipalities are typically subordinate to a county government, with some exceptions. Certain cities, for example, have consolidated with their county government as consolidated city-counties . In Virginia , cities are completely independent from
5865-442: The state. This is especially true of matters of local concern. The nature of both county and municipal government varies not only between states, but also between different counties and municipalities within them. Local voters are generally free to choose the basic framework of government from a selection established by state law. In most cases both counties and municipalities have a governing council, governing in conjunction with
5950-521: The states are divided into counties or county-equivalents for administrative purposes, with most, although not all counties or county-equivalents, having an organized county government. County government has been eliminated throughout Connecticut and Rhode Island , as well as in parts of Massachusetts . The Unorganized Borough in Alaska also does not operate under a county level government. The specific governmental powers of counties vary widely between
6035-590: The states. In some states, mainly in New England , they are primarily used as judicial districts. In other states, counties have broad powers in housing, education, transportation and recreation. In areas lacking a county government, services are provided either by lower level townships or municipalities, or the state. Counties may contain a number of cities , towns, villages, or hamlets . Some cities including Philadelphia , Honolulu , San Francisco , Nashville , and Denver are consolidated city-counties , where
6120-652: The term borough for what the U.S. Census Bureau terms county equivalents in those states. Civil townships or towns are used as subdivisions of a county in 20 states, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. Population centers may be organized into incorporated municipalities of several types, including the city , town , borough , and village . The types and nature of these municipal entities are defined by state law, and vary from state to state. In addition to these general-purpose local governments, states may also create special-purpose local governments. Depending on
6205-621: The term "town", while in Victoria they are designated as "rural city". Historically, the word "borough" was common for small towns and suburban centers in Victoria, but nowadays only the Borough of Queenscliffe remains as the one and only borough in the entire country. New South Wales and Queensland have also introduced a new term "region" for outback LGAs formed by the amalgamation of smaller shires and rural cities. In New South Wales, where
6290-500: The terms are used interchangeably). However, the powers granted to townships or towns vary considerably from state to state. Many states grant townships some governmental powers (making them civil townships , either independently or as a part of the county government. In others, survey townships are non-governmental. Towns in the six New England states and townships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are included in this category by
6375-490: The town clerk, treasurer, constables, assessors, and overseers of the poor. To this day the town government continues in a large measure in some parts of New England. ––historian Henry William Elson writing in 1904. Propertied men voted; in no colonies was there universal suffrage . The founding of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629 by a group of Puritans led by John Winthrop came with
6460-636: The understanding that the enterprise was to be "based in the new world rather than in London." The notion of self-government became accepted in the colonies, although it was not totally free from challenges; in the 1670s, the Lords of Trade and Plantations (a royal committee regulating mercantile trade in the colonies) tried to annul the Massachusetts Bay charter, but by 1691, the New England colonies had reinstalled their previous governments. Voting
6545-501: The varying designations, whilst the local governing legislature itself is generally known as a council . In general, an urban / suburban LGA is called a " city ", as in the City of Melbourne , City of Canada Bay and City of Bunbury ; while an exurban / rural LGA covering a larger agricultural / natural area is usually called a " shire ", as in Shire of Mornington Peninsula , Shire of Banana and Lachlan Shire . Sometimes designations other than "city" or "shire" are used in
6630-406: The very large (e.g., New York City , with about 8.5 million people), and this is reflected in the range of types of municipal governments that exist in different areas. There are approximately 30,000 incorporated cities in the United States, with varying degrees of self-rule. In most states, county and municipal governments exist side by side. There are exceptions to this, however. In some states,
6715-675: Was a consolidated city-county, an independent city was legally separated from any county. Some municipalities are in multiple counties ; New York City is uniquely partitioned into five boroughs that are each coterminous with a county. In many states, most or all of the land area of counties is divided into townships , which may or may not be incorporated. In New York, Wisconsin and New England, county subdivisions are called towns . The U.S. Census divides counties in states not having such subdivisions into other minor civil divisions , sometimes using electoral districts. The terms "township" and "town" are closely related (in many historical documents
6800-469: Was a legal corporation, was the political unit, and was represented in the General Court. It was a democracy of the purest type. Several times a year the adult males met in town meeting to discuss public questions, to lay taxes, to make local laws, and to elect officers. The chief officers were the "selectmen," from three to nine in number, who should have the general management of the public business;
6885-539: Was defeated. A 1988 referendum sought to explicitly insert mention of local government in the federal constitution but this was comprehensively defeated. A further referendum was proposed in 2013 , but was cancelled due to the change in the election date . Federal government interaction with local councils happens regularly through the provision of federal grants to help fund local government managed projects. Local government in Australia has very limited legislative powers and no judicial powers , and executive -wise
6970-526: Was established as a precedent early on; in fact, one of the first things that Jamestown settlers did was conduct an election. Typically, voters were white males described as "property owners" aged twenty-one and older, but sometimes the restrictions were greater, and in practice, persons able to participate in elections were few. Women were prevented from voting (although there were a few exceptions) and African-Americans were excluded. The colonists never thought of themselves as subservient but rather as having
7055-594: Was established by Judge John Forrest Dillon in 1872 and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Hunter v. Pittsburgh , 207 U.S. 161 (1907), which upheld the power of Pennsylvania to consolidate the city of Allegheny into the city of Pittsburgh , despite the wishes of the majority of Allegheny residents. In effect, state governments can place whatever restrictions they choose on their municipalities (including merging municipalities, controlling them directly, or abolishing them outright), as long as such rules do not violate
7140-477: Was fixed in place and plainly visible, its value was generally well known, and revenue could be allocated to the government unit where the property was located. After the American Revolution , the electorate chose the governing councils in almost every American municipality, and state governments began issuing municipal charters. During the 19th century, many municipalities were granted charters by
7225-621: Was the Perth Town Trust , established in 1838, only three years after British settlement. The Adelaide Corporation followed, created by the province of South Australia in October 1840. The City of Melbourne and the Sydney Corporation followed, both in 1842. All of these early forms failed; it was not until the 1860s and 1870s that the various colonies established widespread stable forms of local government, mainly for
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