Virginia Government In Brief
An introduction to state and local government for high school students and adult constituents
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TOWNS
Summary
The Commonwealth has 190 towns, as of July 1, 2022. Virginia towns are governmentally part of the county in which they are located. Thus, towns exist primarily for the provision of urban services to their residents and do not have, in general, responsibility for the administration of state programs. The current Virginia Constitution, which became effective in 1971, while recognizing as “towns” all communities previously incorporated as such, requires that all new towns must have a minimum population of 1,000 persons and become a town through the process established by law.
Virginia law permits towns that reach a population of 5,000 persons to seek city status. The process by which a town becomes a city requires judicial review of the fiscal capacity of the municipality, the impact of the proposed transition on the affected county, and other state concerns. The transition of a town to city status also requires approval by the town electorate in a referendum. The laws of the Commonwealth do not mandate that a town must become a city when it attains the population of 5,000 persons. Many Virginia towns have populations well in excess of that threshold.
Towns do not have constitutional officers (cities and counties do). Depending on the size and financial condition of the town, the municipality may also have positions that process payments or handle other tasks. Town residents pay town and county taxes.
Forms of Town Government
Summary: While all Virginia municipalities have charters which give them distinct governmental attributes, the two principal forms of town government are Council-Manager Form and Mayor-Council Form.
Council-Manager Form
This form of government was first adopted by the City of Staunton, Virginia, in 1908 and has since been widely adopted by many cities and towns in the nation. Under this form, a council is elected either by wards or at-large. The Council then appoints a professional manager to handle the day-to-day affairs of the city or town. In about half of the cities the Council also elects one of its members as the presiding officer (generally known as the Mayor), whose position is primarily ceremonial in nature. The Mayor serves as the official head of the city or town and generally has the same legislative power and duties as other council members. In about half of the cities, the mayor is elected directly by the voters. The mayor in most towns is elected at large, regardless of whether the town is organized under the council-manager or the mayor-council form of government.
Mayor-Council Form
The Mayor-Council Form is used by many of Virginia’s small towns. Under this form, Council members are elected by the people, and the Mayor is directly elected by the people. In addition to those legislative powers which he/she shares with members of Council, the Mayor has certain executive and administrative authorities. Under this form of municipal government, the Mayor may be granted the power to appoint and dismiss certain town officers and may veto ordinances and resolutions approved by the Council. Many of the towns that are organized under the mayor-council form of government also appoint a town manager to serve as the chief administrative officer.
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