County and City
Government in Georgia
March 17, 2014
Local Governments
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Local governments are the most numerous in
the U.S.
Georgia’s local governments get their powers
from the Georgia constitution
Georgia has 159 counties and each county has a
government
In addition to the counties, there almost 600
cities in Georgia, each with their own
government
These governments are important because they
are closest to the people and most likely to
affect us directly
County Government
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Counties are subdivisions of the state
The state constitution sets out the powers of the
county government
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These include the power to tax to cover the cost of
police systems, road maintenance, public health, and
parks and libraries
The constitution requires that all county
governments be organized the same way
Most county governments are headed by boards
of commissioners
County Boards of Commissioners
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A board of commissioners is elected in each
county to serve 4-year, staggered terms
They have the authority to establish county
policies, adopt county ordinances (laws),
establish a budget and tax rates, and provide
services to the citizens of a county
A county administrator, appointed by the board,
serves as chief administrative officer
County Officials
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Each county has a different number of officials,
depending on its population
Each county has at least these elected officials:
commissioners, superior court clerk, probate
court judge, tax commissioner, sheriff, and
coroner
Other county officials are appointed, rather than
elected. Appointed county officials include
clerks, attorneys, fire chiefs, roads supervisors,
and surveyors
To become a city…
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A city with its own government is called a municipality
A city becomes a political unit when it receives a charter
from the state legislature
 A charter is a document that outlines the conditions
under which a city is organized and defines its rights
and privileges
To be chartered, a city must meet these 3 requirements:
 It must have at least 200 residents
 It must be located at least 3 miles from the
boundaries of the nearest city
 It must have 60% of its land divided into tracts or
being used for homes, business, industry, or
government purposes
City Government
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A city government can only do what its
charter authorizes it to do
Most city charters allow cities to provide
police protection, license businesses,
maintain streets and sidewalks, control
traffic, and provide water and sewage
services
Other services may only be provided if
they are in the city charter
Forms of City Government
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There are 3 most common forms of city
government
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Mayor-council Form
Council-manager Form
Commission Form
Mayor-Council Form
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The elected city council is responsible for
making laws
An elected mayor is the city’s chief
executive officer
The mayor also makes sure laws are
carried out and city agencies do their jobs
There are 2 types of mayor-council
government: strong mayor and weak
mayor
Strong-Mayor System
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In this system, the mayor is a strong
leader who proposes legislation, prepares
the budget, appoints department heads,
and has veto power
The cities of Atlanta and Stockbridge are
examples of strong-mayor cities
Weak-Mayor System
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In this system, the city council has legislative
and executive powers
The mayor has limited powers, appoints a few
city officials, and has little veto power
The mayor is basically a figurehead (a person
who is the head of an organization but has no
powers)
The mayor usually only presides over council
meetings and performs ceremonial duties
Council-Manager Form
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The voters elect a city council that
establishes laws and policies
There is a mayor who is either elected or
appointed by the council
The council hires a city manager who is
responsible for the day-to-day
management of the city
Savannah has a council-manager form of
government
Commission Form
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The voters elect the commissioners
Each commissioner is the head of a
department within the city government,
such as finance, streets, public safety, etc.
The mayor is elected by the
commissioners from among themselves
Decatur has a commission form of
government
Special-Purpose Governments
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There are a number of special-purpose districts
in Georgia
These are created for a single job or group of
tasks
Most of these govern themselves
An example of a special-purpose government is
a school system
While the state requires children to go to school,
the control of each system is left up to the
school board office
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The system establishes rules, dress codes, schedules,
etc.
Other Special-Purpose Districts
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MARTA is another special-purpose district
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The Public Housing Authority is another
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They run the system, set the cost of fares, set
the routes, and schedule times
They determine location of public housing,
construct and maintain the buildings, rent the
housing, and determine rules and regulations
Community fire departments, airports, and
the port authorities are other examples
Consolidated Government
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Some counties provide services outside of
cities, such as water, sewage, sanitation,
and fire protection.
As cities and counties grow, these can
overlap
To avoid duplication, a city and county
government can consolidate (merge) into
a single government
Questions:
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1) Where do Georgia’s local
governments get their power?
2) How many counties does Georgia
have?
3) Why are local governments
important?
4) What is a county?
5) What types of powers do county
governments have?
6) Who heads most county
governments?
7) How long is a term of a member of
a board of commissioners?
8) What authorities do county boards
of commissioners have?
9) Who serves as the chief
administrative officer of a board of
commissioners?
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10) How is the number of county
officials determined in each county?
11) Which county officials are elected?
12) Which county officials are
appointed?
13) What is a municipality?
14) How does a city become a political
unit?
15) What is a charter?
16) What 3 requirements are
necessary for a city to be chartered?
17) What powers are granted to a city
by its charter?
18) What are the 3 common forms of
city government?
Questions…
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19) Who makes laws in the
mayor-council form?
20) Who is the chief executive
officer in the mayor-council form?
21) What are the duties of the
mayor in them mayor-council
form?
22) What are the 2 types of
mayor-council form?
23) What does the mayor do in
the strong-mayor system?
24) Who has legislative and
executive powers in the weakmayor system?
25) Describe the role of the mayor
in the weak-mayor system?
26) What does the city council do
in the council-manager form?
27) What does the city manager
do in the council-manager form?
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28) What do commissioners do
in the commission form?
29) How is the mayor chosen
in the commission form?
30) Why are special-purpose
governments created?
31) Who governs specialpurpose governments?
32) List 3 examples of specialpurpose governments, and
what they do
33) What is a consolidated
government?
34) Why are consolidated
governments created?