Local Governments in NC 553 municipalitiescities, towns, villages - - PDF document

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Form of Government in North Carolina

Kimberly Nelson

Local Governments in NC

• 553 municipalities—cities, towns, villages
• 100 counties
• 115 dependent school districts
• 320 special districts (relatively low)

3/1/2016 2 State of North Carolina

Counties Municipalities School Districts

Basic Structure in North Carolina Counties‐history & function

• Counties created by the state to distribute

state services

• Creation preceded that of municipalities

(cities, towns, villages)

• Types of services delivered differs by state

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Municipalities‐history & function

• Created by state authority (NOT subdivisions
• f counties)
• Basically created at the “request” of its

inhabitants

• Need evolved to address unique needs of

population centers

Service Distribution

County Only Municipal Only

• Juvenile detention homes
• Cemeteries
• Public health
• Sidewalks
• Public schools
• Street lighting
• Medical examiner/coroner
• Cable television
• Register of deeds
• Traffic engineering

Both County & Municipal

• Public housing
• Solid waste collection and disposal
• Sewage collection and disposal
• Libraries

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Form of Government Distribution in North Carolina

Municipalities Council‐Manager 255 Mayor‐Council 298 Counties Manager 100

Municipal Governing Structure

• Style of corporation

– Town (463) – City (70) – Village (20)

• Size of board ranges (2‐11)
• Election of governing board

– At‐large (477) – Combination at‐large/district (26) – District (17)

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Municipal Council‐Manager Form

Council‐Manager Form of Municipal Government

• Council appoints a professional manager
• Manager handles day‐to‐day operations
• Appoints/removes employees
• Formulates the budget
• Mayor’s role is similar to that of other council

members

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Municipal Mayor‐Council Form

Mayor‐Council Form of Government

• Council may choose to hire an

administrator

• Mayor has few formal powers

– Presides – May or may not vote

• No veto power (except in Charlotte)
• Mayor does have informal power

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County Governing Structure

• All counties have professional administrators
• Relatively small boards:

– Most common size is 5 members (62)* – Second most common is 7 members(31) – Largest is 9 members (4)

• In all but 3 counties, the chair is selected by

the board

• Partisan elections

*5 is currently the smallest number of commission members.

County Manager Form

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County Manager Authority

• CAO
• Appoint & remove, with board approval,

employees

• Board can grant authority to make

hiring/firing choices without prior approval

• Board appoints: clerk, county attorney, tax

collector, tax assessor

Council‐Manager Roles and Responsibilities Compared

Mayor

• Presides at council

meetings

• Calls special meetings
• Votes to break a tie

(usually)

• Other powers conferred

by the council

Council

• Governs and oversees

management of the city

• Confers power to the

mayor and employees

• Decides on the
• rganization of municipal

government

• Council appoints a

manager to serve at its pleasure

Manager

• Hires and fires all

employees and supervises all departments

• Upholds city and state

laws and regulations

• Prepares and submits the

annual budget

• Reports on the finances

and administrative activities

• Performs other duties

required or authorized by the council

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Which form of government is most like the private American corporation Mayor-Council

• r

Council-Manager?

The Clerk’s role related to FOG

• What is the form of government for your

city or county?

• How do you think the Clerk’s role differs

under the different forms of government?

• Do you think the Clerk should be a member
• f the management team?

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Member of Management Team or Clerk

• f Council?
• 69%‐Clerk is a member of the management

team

• 31%‐Clerk is not a member of the

management team

– Not a management level staff member 46% – Clerk only performs clerical duties 23% – Manager doesn’t want the clerk on the management team 11%

Trends Affecting Local Governments: Local governments must collaborate

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Trends Affecting Local Governments: Workforce demographics are changing

Age of top administrators (cities and counties)

NC Population Age Groups, 2010

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 0-17 18-24 25-44 45-64 65+ 1990 2030

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Trends Affecting Local Government: Social Media for Citizen Engagement

Trends Affecting Local Government: Increasing Distrust of Government

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Questions?

Contact Information: Email: knelson@sog.unc.edu Phone: 919‐962‐0427