Local government

Americans have more contact with the local government than with the state or federal governments. Local government is organized by:

• County: A county’s function is to administer state laws within a particular geographic location. It has a number of responsibilities including managing most public services such as parks, hospitals, fire services, libraries, schools, courts, roads and law enforcement. Births, deaths and marriages are also recorded at the county level.

• Townships: These are traditionally rural geographic locations that are a subdivision of the county; sometimes they’re just a different name for a town or city. Most townships have an elected board that includes supervisors who run local services such as trash collection and road maintenance; some even include the fire and police services.

• Municipalities: Similar in most states to townships, municipalities are usually a formal name for an administrative area that’s a city or a town. Municipal governments often have elected mayors and elected council members. They’re in charge of running most public services that an average person will come into contact with during their daily lives.

• Special districts: These subdivisions of government provide a specialist function within a particular geographic location. Functions include education, waste management and transportation. They’re unique entities and even have tax-raising powers to provide the services they cover. School districts, for example, are run by school boards, which can be elected or appointed and are responsible for determining policy issues such as what textbooks the schools can purchase and the ratio of students per teacher.

Money

Local governments get money from taxes. A common local tax is property tax. For property tax, the amount you pay is based on the land you own. Some towns and cities also have a local sales tax. You pay sales tax when you buy something. It is an extra charge added to the price. Stores collect sales tax and then send it to the government.

Services

In the United States, local governments provide many services. Those services include fire departments, police departments, road repair, and street cleaning. Local governments do not provide house cleaning or gas stations. Companies or individual people provide those services. Companies provide the services in order to make money.

Leader

A mayor is the leader of a city. The mayor:

• appoint people to lead city departments

Mayors often appoint, or choose, the people who lead city departments. For example, the mayor will appoint someone to lead the police department. The city council usually has to approve the mayor's choices.

• lead the city

Mayors are the elected leaders of their cities. Mayors represent their cities at the state and national levels.

Other Leaders

The city council makes the laws. The city council is a group of citizens who live in the city. Councils have as few as 5 or as as many as 51 members. The city manager, mayor, and police department make sure that the laws are followed.

In some places, the city council members can overturn the mayor's veto. To veto a law means to not allow it to pass. If enough of them agree, they can force a law to pass. The citizens in the community elect the city council members. In some cities, the city is broken up into districts, or areas. Each district has its own city council member. Citizens vote for their district's council member only. In other cities, citizens vote for all of the city council members.

Citizens

Citizens have a say in what laws are passed:

• They can call or write letters to their city council members.

Citizens can give their opinions to city council members via phone, mail, or email.

• They elect the city council members, who are the ones who pass the laws.

Citizens can vote for city council members whose ideas they agree with.

• They can speak at city council meetings.

Citizens can give their opinions to city council members at city council meetings.

Laws

A court is a place for deciding whether someone has broken the law. Sometimes, a judge decides whether someone has broken the law. A judge is the person in charge of a court. Other times, a jury decides. A jury is usually a group of twelve citizens. The members of a jury sit in a court and listen to both sides of the story. Then, the jury members talk about the case and decide as a group.