Local Governments

1. Local Governments Chapter 7

2. Roots of Local Government • Municipalities and Counties created when Texas was a part of Spain and Mexico. • Under the Republic, counties (36) and municipalities (53) were created. • After 1845, additional counties were created. • 1876 Constitution continued county governments, adding more offices and number of counties until 1931, when Loving County became the 254th county. • Home rule for Texas cities came with a constitutional amendment in 1912.

3. Counties • Administrative units of the state • Collect taxes • Keep records • Conduct trials • Conduct elections • General purpose government • Provide public safety • Public works • Parks, libraries, etc.

4. Government Structure • Commissioners Court • County judge and 4 commissioners • Adopts the budget and sets the tax rate • Legislative body for county • County Judge • Presides over commissioners court • Performs executive functions • Sheriff • Law enforcement • County Jail

5. Government Structure • Tax Assessor-Collector • Collects taxes • Automobile registration • County clerk • Records of the county: births, deaths, marriages, divorces, transfers of property • Elections • District clerk • records of state district courts

6. Government Structure • County Treasurer • County’s banker and pays bills • Records of revenues and expenditures • County Auditor • Counties with population greater than 35,000 • Same functions as treasurer • Chief budget officer and finance officer • Audits county financial records • Approves accounting system • Checks monetary claims against county

7. County Finances: Taxing and Spending • Revenues • Property tax • Sales tax • Bonds: general obligation and revenue • Fees: automobile registration • Expenditures • Law enforcement • Roads and bridges • Services: parks, libraries, etc.

8. Criticisms of County Government • Structure inflexible • Plural executive inefficient • No home-rule authority • Patronage hiring • Roads and bridges responsibility of county commissioner in his/her precinct

9. Types of Cities • General law cities • Operates under the state’s general laws: can only do what the state allows • Fewer than 5,000 residents • Property tax rate limited to $1.50/$100 assessed valuation • Sunset Valley

10. Types of cities • Home-rule city • Creates its own charter: can do anything unless prohibited by the state • More than 5,000 residents • Property tax limited to $2.50/$100 assessed valuation • Austin

11. Forms of City Government • Mayor-Council • Most common for general law cities • Mayor is chief executive; council is the law-making body • Strong Mayor-Council • Mayor is sole executive authority • Weak Mayor-Council • Mayor shares executive powers

12. Mayor Council Government (strong)

13. Mayor Council Government (weak)

14. Forms of City Government • Council-Manager • Most common in home-rule cities • Council is the law-making body • Mayor is member of Council but has no executive authority • Manager is the executive authority; hired by the council; hires and fires department heads; prepares budget • Reform during the Progressive Movement

15. Council Manager Government

16. Forms of City Government • Commission • Council is the law-making body • Mayor is member of Council but has no executive authority • Each council member has authority over a specific function of city government, e.g. police department, fire department, etc. • Originated in Galveston, Texas after the hurricane of 1900 destroyed the city. • No examples in Texas presently

17. Forms of City Government • Citizen Advisory Boards • Advise council in various areas • Temporary or permanent • Planning and Zoning Commissions • Recommendations on changes to zoning and subdivisions ordinances and exceptions to subdivision ordinance • Boards of Adjustment • Grant exceptions (variations) to the zoning ordinance

18. Types of Council Elections • At-large elections • Voters cast number of votes equal to number of council members being elected. Top vote getters win council seats • At-large-by-place elections • Council divided into numerically designated places. Candidates file for a place. Voters choose candidates in all places being contested. Majority of votes necessary to win. Runoff if no candidate receives a majority.

19. Types of Council Elections • Single-member districts (wards) • City is divided into geographic zones that are equal in population, compact, and do not dilute minority voting strength. • Voters choose only council member in their geographic zone. • Mixed system • Some council members elected at-large, and other council members elected from single-member districts.

20. Austin Single-member Districts

21. Austin Single-member Districts

22. Austin Single-member Districts

23. Advantages and Disadvantages of Methods of Election • At-large elections • Council members act in interest of city as a whole • Minorities may not be represented fairly • Works well in small, homogeneous cities • Single-member and mixed systems • Council members have more parochial outlook • Minorities more likely to be fairly represented • Works in large, heterogeneous cities

24. Alternative Election Systems • Proportional Representation • Council elected based on proportion of vote for political parties • Cumulative Voting • Like at-large systems EXCEPT voters can allocate their votes as they wish. • For example, if four council seats were being contested, each voter would get four votes. A voter could distribute the four votes as s/he wished: all four to one candidate, three to one candidate and one to another candidate, etc.

25. City Ordinances • Laws passed by city to provide services and regulate activities in the city’s corporate limits • Most important are zoning and subdivision ordinances • Zoning ordinances involve height restrictions, use restrictions, and density restrictions. • Subdivision ordinances provide restrictions for an entire area

26. Growth of Cities • Annexation • Process by which city increases its size • Typically, a city annexes for several reasons: provide services, increase tax base, extend its regulations • City council usually makes the decision on whether to annex an area • Area annexed is usually an unincorporated area

27. Growth of Cities • Limits on annexation • Annex up to 10 percent of its area per year with maximum of 30 percent in any one year. • Annexation plan (100+ tracts residential) three years prior to annexation. Annexation occurs within 31 days of the 3-year anniversary. If not, must wait five years. • Annexed area contiguous to current city limits. • Municipal services within 2 ½ years • Land use grandfathered • Strip annexation: 1000 feet swath 3.5 miles long

28. Growth of Cities • Limits on annexation (continued) • Make an inventory of the current services in the area. • Provide to the annexed area all services currently provided in its full-purpose boundaries no later than two and one-half years after annexation. • Require negotiations and arbitration regarding services. • Conduct at least two public hearings. • Not reduce level of services in the area from what they were before annexation.

29. Extraterritorial Jurisdiction • Area immediately surrounding a city • Extent of ETJ determined by the city’s population: ½ mile to 5 miles • Area within a city’s ETJ cannot incorporate without the city’s consent • Some regulations possible in a city’s ETJ, but not zoning ordinances

30. Municipal Finances: Taxes and Spending • Revenues • Property tax • Sales tax • Issues bonds: general obligation or revenue • Expenditures • Police and fire protection • Public works: water, wastewater, streets, signs, traffic control • Parks, libraries, health facilities, etc.

31. Join the Debate: Red-Light Cameras • Arguments for Red-light Cameras • Reduction in traffic fatalities • Law enforcement can focus on real problems • Constitutional method of traffic code enforcement • Arguments against Red-light Cameras • Violate constitutional rights • Generate money but don’t improve safety • Other methods are more efficient

32. Special Districts • Single purpose government • Formed by state legislature, state boards or commissions, constitutional amendments, county commissioners court, city councils • Formed because general purpose governments can’t or won’t act • Funded by tax and fees

33. Types of Special Districts • Educations districts • Independent School Districts (ISDs) • Community College Districts • Water Districts • Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) • Hospital Districts • Rapid Transit Authorities

34. Types of Special Districts

35. Problems with Special Districts • Ease of creation • Developers create MUD • MUD issue bonds • Homeowners pay through cost of home or property tax and through fees for services • Obscurity to Public • People may not realize they’re in a special district • Districts operate with little regulation

36. Alternatives to Special Districts • Metrogovernments • Regional government combining county and city services • Offers economy of scale • Problems of eliminating positions and how to integrate local governments • Intergovernmental contracting • Government contracting with another government to provide service

37. Alternatives to Special Districts • Privatization • Turning over government functions to private companies • Controversial issue – police protection to security firms, deed restrictions in subdivisions, homeowners associations

38. Councils of Government • Planning and Coordinating organizations for other governments • No authority over members – similar to a confederation • 24 COGs in Texas • Provide technical and managerial assistance, process applications for federal grants, and run state and federal programs for the region

39. Local Governments and Democracy • Many opportunities for citizen participation • Low voter turnout in local elections • Ignorance of local government, especially special districts • Local governments affect people’s lives directly