Texas Local Government

1. 0 Texas Local Government

2. Focus 0 • Local governments—3 Types • Municipal Governments—(Also Known As, City governments) • County Governments • Special Districts • Council of Governments (COGs)

3. Learning Objectives 0 • The 5 levels of government in the U.S. Political System. • Name 3 types of local governments. • Know the functions of the 3 types of local governments. • The classifications of towns and cities.

4. Learning Objectives (continued) 0 • The municipal election systems. • 4 ways to generate revenue • List 5 or more types of special districts. • What is COGs?

5. Government refers to the institutions in which decisions are made that resolve conflicts or allocate benefits and privileges. E.G., Congress is a government. An institution refers to an ongoing organization that performs certain functions for society. The word itself is derived from the Greek word meaning tool: a tool is something that you use to get something done. 0

6. Why Do We Need To Know AboutThese Local Governments? 0 • Local Governments are closest to the people, much more so than the national and state governments. • Local Governments have a direct and immediate effect in our lives. • When citizens understand each local government’s function, such citizens can better ensure the correct operation of each—that is, rule them better. • Citizens need to know which local government to turn to when a problem arises.

7. Which Governments HandleThese Problems? 0 • A neighborhood watch group goes to whom when a city’s street lighting needs attention? • A public park has several broken swings that can harm children—who do parents seek for help? • 50 parents of elementary-age children have a serious concern with the uniform of a certain public, elementary school —where do the parents seek help?

8. A. Municipal Government 0

9. Municipal Government: General information 0 • All local governments are bound by federal and state laws as well as the US and Texas constitutions. • The relationship between states and local governments takes the form of a unitary system of government. • Municipalities have only as much power as the Texas Constitution and Texas legislature grant them.

10. Municipal Government: Function 0 • There are over 1200 municipal governments in Texas. • All cities have the power to create ordinances, which are laws passed by the city council, the legislative branch of cities. • Ordinances may be passed in such areas as traffic, maintaining streets and bridges (non-state or national roadways), health and safety, building codes, and zoning (regulating commercial and residential activity).

11. 0 A neighborhood watch group goes to whom when a city’s street lighting needs attention? City-Council Government

12. Classifications of Municipalities 0 • Home-rule Cities • General Law Cities

13. Home-Rule City Defined 0 • Home-rule cities must have at least 5,000 people. • A city with 5, 000 or more, by majority vote, may become a home-rule city. • Once a home-rule city, it has the state-granted right to frame, adopt, and amend its own charter and laws (ordinances). • A home-rule city whose population has dropped to 5,000 or less may retain its home-rule designation.

14. Home-rule (Cont’d) 0 • A home-rule city not only can adopt its own charter, but also structure its local government as it sees fit. • That is, home-rule cities permit local voters to exact their will directly on government through initiative, referendum, and recall.

15. Initiative 0 An election method that permits the people to place a proposal on the ballot for voter approval. If the measure passes, it becomes law.

16. Referendum 0 An election that permits voters to determine if an ordinance or statue will go into effect

17. Recall 0 An election that permits voters to remove an elected official

18. General Law Cities 0 • Cities with a population of 5,000 or less whose structure and organization are defined (and limited) by state law • The vast majority of Texas cities—about 75 percent—are general-law cities.

19. A Non Municipality 0 • A non-municipal area is a geographical location that has not become a city. • There are over 5000 unincorporated areas that do not have a municipal government. Accordingly, these unincorporated communities do not have any municipal government.(Unincorporated means, not to be merged into a town/city)

20. 3 Common Forms Of Municipal Governments 0 • The Council-Manager Plan • The Mayor-Council Plan: 2 Types • Strong Mayor Plan • Weak Mayor Plan • The Commission Plan

21. The Council-Manager Plan 0 • The plan consists of a city council that is part-time. • The council acts as the legislative branch of the city. • The council appoints a city manager to be the chief administrative officer for the city.

22. The Council-Manager Plan (Cont’d) 0 • The manager is a professional administrator. • The council –manager plan is a result of the reform movement in the early part of the 20th century which sought honest and business like city government. • San Antonio uses this plan.

23. The Mayor-Council Plan: Two Types 0 • Strong Mayor Plan • Weak Mayor Plan

24. The Mayor-Council Plan: Strong Mayor Plan 0 • The mayor is a strong chief executive who works with a city council. • The mayor makes appointments, prepares the budget, and is responsible for the management of city government. • The mayor also sets the council agenda, proposes policy and (in many cities) may veto council actions.

25. The Mayor-Council Plan: Strong Mayor Plan (Cont’d) 0 • The city council is the legislative branch for the city. • This plan gives much power to the mayor. • It is not popular in Texas.

26. The Mayor-Council Plan: Weak Mayor Plan 0 • The mayor has few executive powers. • Power is distributed among the mayor and the council. • Power is decentralized and fragmented in this plan. • Popular with many smaller cites which need little city administration.

27. The Commission Plan 0 • The commission plan is the most decentralized plan of municipal government in Texas. • Commissioners are both executive and legislative branch members.

28. The Commission Plan (Cont’d) 0 • The commissioners, sitting together, are the legislature, BUT individually each administers a city department. • As a group, the fragmented and confusing system is used in only a few cities.

29. Municipal Elections:3 Forms 0 • At-Large Elections • For Mayors and City Council Members • Single-Member Districts • For City Council Members • Cumulative Voting • For City Council Members

30. A Municipal Election Approach 0 At-Large Elections For Mayors and City Council Members

31. General Meaning For At-Large Elections 0 • An election in which candidates are chosen on an individual basis rather than as representatives of a geographically defined, single-member district. • Definition obtained from this link: http://www.ncsl.org/?TabId=13539

32. Pure, At-large System The voters elect all the members of the city council. The voters simply choose from all the candidates to fill the available council seats, with the winning candidates being those who receive the most votes. At-large Place System Each candidate runs for a specific seat on the council (e.g., place 1, place 2, place 3, and so fourth). It is an organizational measure. Accordingly, these placements are not a geographically defined district. Each candidate is elected by either a plurality or a majority of votes cast citywide for that particular seat (place) and neither candidates nor voters are confined by their residence. At-Large Elections: 2 Forms 0

33. Another Municipal Election Approach 0 Single-Member DistrictsFor City Council Members

34. First, Let’s Define An Electoral District 0 • An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body. • The aforementioned came from the link below: • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_district

35. Single-Member Districts 0 • A single representative who works for a specific geographically defined area: an election district. • That representative must live in the district for which she/he works. • Also, the citizens by their residence are assigned to an election district and are voting only for those candidates who live in the same district as them. • A helpful link for above information: • http://aceproject.org/electoral-advice/archive/questions/replies/577511787

36. Single-Member Districts (Cont’d) 0 • A single-member district is more likely to represent ethnic and racial minorities better than the at-large method. • For example, one study found that Mexican American candidates in Texas cities were more likely to win the district positions than the at-large seats in mixed systems (Schmidt et al, 2009-2010: 983).

37. Another Municipal Election Approach 0 Cumulative VotingFor City Council Members

38. Cumulative Voting: A Type of Proportional Representation 0 • First, I will explain the purpose of proportional representation. Then, I will explain how cumulative voting is a type of proportional representation. • The basic idea behind proportional representation is to try to ensure that those issues most supported by the greatest numbers of people are represented on the city council or any other legislative body.

39. Proportional Representation (Cont’d) 0 • Proportional representation has the advantage of enabling the representation on the city council of both majority interests and significant minority interests without requiring that minorities be segregated as in single-member districts. • Essentially, issues would be represented on the city council in proportion to the number of votes they received.

40. Proportional Representation (Cont’d) 0 • For Example: • If 40 percent of the city’s voters thought that the primary focus of the city council should be on public safety, then under proportional representation, 40 percent of the council would be made up of members who had the same position.

41. Proportional Representation (Cont’d) • To repeat, proportional representation has the advantage of enabling the representation on the city council of both majority interests and significant minority interests without requiring that minorities be segregated as in single-member districts.

42. Cumulative Voting: A Type Of Proportional Representation 0 • Cumulative voting is a form of proportional representation. • With cumulative voting, all voters get a number of votes equal to the number of places for which they are choosing candidates. • Thus, a type of at-large election system that permits voters to cast one or more votes for a single candidate.

43. Cumulative Voting: A Type of Proportional representation (Cont’d) 0 • Example: If a city council is constructed and has eight districts, then its total membership size is eight. Because of this, each voters is given eight votes to cast for one or more candidates. Accordingly, if a voter can cast up to 8 votes in a city council race, all 8 votes could be cast for one candidate or spread among several candidates.

44. Cumulative Voting Is A Type of Proportional representation (Cont’d) 0 • Another example: a voter can cast 3 votes for one candidate and the remaining 5 votes for another candidate.

45. Revenue Sources and Limitations 0 • Sales Tax • Property Tax • Public Debt • User fees • Rollback Election

46. Sales Tax 0 Tax on products bought by consumers.

47. Property Tax • A tax in which revenue is based on a percent of the assessed values of real property.

48. Limits On Property Taxes: Rollback Elections • In Texas, an election that permits voters to lower a local property tax increase to eight percent. • For school districts, an election to decide if a tax increase will stand is automatically held if the increase exceeds $.06 per $100 of assessed valuation; no petition is necessary.

49. Limits On Property Taxes: Rollback Elections (Cont’d) • Voters in non-school district jurisdictions (that is, cities, counties, and other special districts [such as, hospital or airport special districts]) may petition for a rollback election to limit an increase in the property tax rate to no more than 8 percent. • The petition must be signed by at least 10 percent of registered voters.

50. Public Debt • Normally, bond issues must be approved by the voters in a referendum to fund infrastructure projects such as roads, buildings, and public facilities. • In Texas, the law limits the amount of long-term debt to a percentage of assessed valuation governments from becoming bankrupt as they did during the Great Depression of the 1930s. • What is a bond? http://www.lifetuner.org/investing/bonds?CMP=KNC-360I-GOOGLE-LTN&HBX_PK=what_is_a_bond&utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=what%2Bis%2Ba%2Bbond&utm_campaign=G_Topics%2BAZ%2B-%2BInvestment&360cid=SI_287112767_7010427413_1 Other useful links about bonds: • Bonds: http://stocks.about.com/od/understandingstocks/a/bondbas102604.htm • Bonds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bond_(finance) • Bonds: http://www.investorwords.com/521/bond.html