Local Governments

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Local Governments

• Chapter 26

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Introduction

• Local governments have a greater effect on our
  lives
• There are 254 counties, about 1200 city
  governments, gt3,000 special dist. governments.
• There are various types of special districts.

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I. Local Politics in Context
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A. Local Governments Federalism

1. Federalism has two levels national state
   governments.
2. Local governments are creatures of the state.
3. Intergovernmental relations (def) is another term
   for federalism.

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B. Grass Roots Challenges

1. Delivery of Services (water, public safety, etc.)
2. Grassroots Governments (limited by the state
   constitution)
3. Need for More Citizen Involvement (very few
   people participate).

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II. Municipal Governments
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Definition of Municipal Government

• Municipal (city) government (def) a local
  government for an incorporated community
  established by law as a city.

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A. Legal Status of Municipalities

• General-Law Cities cities with 201-5000 pop.
  Receive a charter from the state legislature.
• Home-Rule Cities cities with gt5,000 pop. May
  decide on their own form of government/powers.

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3. Three Special Powers of H-R Cities

1. Recall (def) process of removing an elected
   official.
2. Initiative (def) a proposed law, presented by
   petition.
3. Referendum (def) issues referred to the voters to
   accept or reject

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B. Forms of City Government (four types)

1. Strong mayor-council form
2. Weak mayor-council form
3. Council-manager form
4. Commission form

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1. Strong Mayor-Council Form

• (Def) a separately elected council a mayor,
  with veto, appointment, and removal powers.
• Characteristics
• single-member dist. Councilmen
• At-large mayor
• Mayor has power to budget
• Mayor has veto power
• c. Used in Houston and El Paso

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2. Weak Mayor-Council Form

• The mayor is one of several city councilmen, with
  no additional powers. (Still used in Conroe).
• Mayor Tommy Metcalf
• of Conroe gtgtgt

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3. Council-Manager Form

• A mayor is elected at large, with few powers.
• The council makes general policy
• A city manager is hired by the council to run the
  citys depts.
• A manager can earn 200,000/yr.

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Commission Form

• No mayor one commissioner over each dept.
• Presently, no city in Texas uses a pure form of
  this government.
• Major weakness no mayor!
• (Galveston Storm, 1900) gtgtgt

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C. Municipal Politics

• Texas cities have non-partisan elections.
• Cities must re-district every 10 years.
• Two types of city elections in Texas
• a. At-large elections (def)
• b. Single-member district elections (def)
• c. Type b has become more popular.

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• Cumulative voting (def) voters vote one or more
  of the specified number of votes for one or more
  candidates (in any combination.)
• Place system candidates run for a particular
  place (number on the council) all can vote for
  each place the prefer.
• Cities may require term limits for candidates.

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D. Municipal Services

• 1. Establishment Power
• Historically, bankers and businessmen
  represented the power in city politics. (No
  longer true).
• 2. Flexibility in City Services
• Most cities have advisory boards commissions
  to give advice to the city council

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E. City Government Revenue

1. Taxes come from 3 major sources property,
   occupation, and sales.
2. Fees are collected from private utility
   companies, licenses, and permits.
3. Burrowing comes from general obligation bonds and
   revenue bonds.

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4. Property Taxes Tax Exemptions

• In hard times, real estate values go down, which
  cuts local tax revenue.
• Homestead and other exemptions also cut into the
  pie.
• There may be tax caps, as well.
• Each county has a tax appraisal district, to
  re-appraise values which property owners usually
  dont like

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5. The Bottom Line

• With the dislike of increasing tax rates the
  result is oblivious
• Raise fees or create new ones.
• Impose hiring/wage freezes.
• Cut services
• Contract with private firms.
• Improve employee productivity.

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F. Generating Revenue for Economic Development

• Federal state is shrinking.
• Cities may elect to have a local ½ sales tax.
• Some have created TRZs (Tax Reinvestment zones).
• ltltltAmerican Airlines Center, Dallas

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III. Counties
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A. County Organization Operation

• Commissioners Court
• Made up of 4 commissioners and the county judge.
• They adopt the county budget.
• Provide county buildings
• Maintain county roads
• Administer county health welfare programs
• Administer all general elections

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County Judge

• Executive office of the county
• Fills vacancies on the commissioners court and
  my write the county budget
• Hears cases in the county court
• Does not need a law degree.
• Judge Drue Bynum gtgtgt

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3. County Attorney Sheriff

• The county attorney is the chief legal officer of
  the county (if there is no district attorney).
• The county sheriff is the chief law enforcement
  officer of the county.
• J. Keith Gary, Sheriff gtgt

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4. County Clerk Tax Assessor

• The county clerk keeps the county records.
• The tax assessor-collector collects county taxes.
• ltltlt John W. Ramsey, Grayson County Tax
  Assessor-Collector

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4. County Treasurer Auditor

• County Treasurer
• Receives and pays out all funds as authorized by
  the commissioners court,

• County Auditor
• The auditor checks the account books of all
  county officials for correctness.
• He/she may also prepare the county budget.

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6. Appointed Officials

• Some counties hire officials to run certain
  programs, such as airports, hospitals, etc.
• (Grayson County Airport)

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B. County Finance

1. Taxation (Revenue County Income) Largest part
   is from property taxes.
2. Revenues from Non-Tax Sources-- selling
   bonds, liquor fees, age of state taxes, returned
   to the county.
3. Tax Incentives tax abatements, reimbursements,
   or TIFs (tax increment financing) to attract or
   retain businesses.

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4. The Bottom Line

• Texas counties are under pressure to raise
  property taxes or cut services. Revenue is not
  increasing

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5. Expenditures

• Spending patterns very, because of the different
  sizes and needs of counties.
• Roads, bridges, social services, and unfunded
  state mandates

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C. County Government Reform

1. Rule-making power is needed.
2. A chief executive is also needed
3. The county road systems need an overhaul.

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D. Border Counties

1. Fast growing South Texas has problems with
   colonias and infrastructure, which are made worse
   by anti-tax feelings in Texas.
2. However, federal funding has increased there, to
   fight possible terrorism.

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IV. Special Districts
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A. School Districts

• There are 1,000 ISDs in Texas.
• Conservatives and liberals have different ideas,
  concerning education
• Conservatives want self-rule school boards, cash
  vouchers, and charter schools.
• Liberals are opposed to all of these things.
• School financing is a continual problem
• The No Child Left Behind Law is also
  troublesome.

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B. Junior or Community College Districts

• These are financed by local taxes and the fastest
  growing education group in Texas.
• Texas has 75 community colleges gt500,000 students
  (some like YOU!)

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C. Non-Educational Special Districts

• There are gt1,000 of these and they include
  water, utility, housing, soil water
  conservation, hospital, public transit, etc.
• Municipal utility districts (MUDs) benefit real
  estate developers.
• Many new types have developed in the past 10
  years
• Still solving problems with more units of
  government

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V. Metropolitan Areas
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A. Councils of Governments (COGs)

• (Def) advisory groups made up of local
  governments that perform regional planning
  activities.
• They have no taxing or lawmaking powers.
• They may led to metro governments (def)
  consolidation of local governments in an urban
  area under a single authority.

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B. Municipal Annexation (Stopgap Approaches)

1. Municipal Annexation cities may annex beyond
   their limits. Extraterritorial jurisdiction is
   allowed (def) limited authority outside its
   boundaries.
2. Intergovernmental contracting
3. Creations of new districts
4. Future Alternatives big changes will be slow
   and require constitutional amendments

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