State and Local Government

1. State and Local Government Chapter 7: Cities and Villages

2. Background • Cities and villages are granted broad authority by the state constitution to govern themselves without state interference • They are run by councils or board elected to represent voter’s wishes: representative government • Villages and cities are “incorporated,” meaning formed from an area originally part of a town but tied together into a municipal corporation (a larger, more populous city) • Also villages and cities have more independence than a town, more like a subdivision of the state which provides many services • Towns thus have direct democracy, but fewer options, services, and less independence

3. How Cities and Villages Start • People living in an area desire certain services • They decide to incorporate as a village or city • Have to get a number of signatures from voters and property owners • The DOA has to approve the request and the circuit court has to approve it • A final vote is taken in the area seeking incorporation • New cities and villages are added frequently: Caledonia in 2005, Bellevue in 2002, etc.

4. Boundary Changes • Once incorporated, cities and villages may grow in size, called annexation • Take part of an adjoining town and add it to the city • Again, voters and the council need to approve the addition • May also grow by consolidation: the process of two or more units of government combining into one larger unit • Have to be located next to each other • 2/3 majority approval in each local government unit and approval of voters in the affected areas • Towns, cities, and villages may all consolidate together

5. Population Differences • 190 cities and 402 villages in the state • Cities usually have more people than villages (less than 1000 people usually) • The smallest village has only 75 people • The largest is Menomonee Falls with 34000 people! • Can be a city once it has 1000 people but not all choose to do so • Largest city is Milwaukee, about 600,000 • Madison is 2nd • There are 13 other cities with populations over 40,000

6. Organizational Differences • Villages are governed by a board of trustees that is generally elected at-large, meaning that members are chosen from the village as a whole rather a smaller district (small villages have two trustees, large villages have six, all serve for two years and are elected in nonpartisan elections) • People also elect a village president who votes on matters before the board but does not have veto power

7. For cities, the governing body is called a common council, made up of alderpersons who are elected on a nonpartisan basis and usually serve for two years • Thus, cities are divided into aldermanic districts • The CEO in most cities is the mayor who is elected for two years, three years, or four years depending on location • Mayor is a member of the council, presides over meetings, and has the authority to vote in case of a tie, also may get to make some appointments

8. Home Rule • Allows cities and villages to decide how to manage their own affairs, unless the state constitution specifically prohibits it • Otherwise, cities may adopt their own laws, called ordinances • Also, cities/villages operate under a charter, similar to a constitution • By changing the charter, cities can determine how long elected terms are, how much power any officials have, etc • Bigger cities tend to give more power to officials like the mayor in order to get more things done more efficiently • Administrators may also help with such activities as handling budgeting, purchasing and personnel management • Professionally trained managers may also work for cities and villages

9. Budget • Any new projects are paid for by the residents of that city/village (although state funds may offset the costs of certain projects) and are financed through loans which are usually paid back through property taxes • City councils outline their own budgets • See p 98-9 and 102-3 • First, the amount that needs to financed is assessed. Then state and other aid is subtracted and what is left has to be financed by property taxes • Depending on the value of your property, your property taxes will be set (the more land, the more taxes, the better the location, the more taxes) • Thus, if the city needs to levy 1,000,000 in property taxes and all taxable property in the city is worth 40,000,000, then you would divide 1,000,000/40,000,000 which equals $0.025. Take 0.025 times your property value (i.e. a 100,000 dollar house) and you get the amount of tax (2500 dollars in this example)