County government

Terms to know
 County
 County seat
 Board of commissioners
Counties

County- a subdivision set up by the state
to carry out certain governmental
functions
 Why?
Board of commissioners- elected
officials who run a county government
 County Seat- city where the county
government is located

Counties
and
county
seats
Examples of
county
government
services
Why have
county
governments
instead of the
state do
these?
City governments
Municipality
 Types of government

 Mayor-council form
 Council-manager form

Special purpose districts
City government origins
Savannah (1733) was
the first city in Georgia
 Municipality- a city with
its own government
 A municipality (city)
must get a charter from
the state government to
have authority to
perform jobs

Forms of city governments
Mayor-council form- A city council is
responsible for passing laws and the
mayor acts as the chief executive
 2 kinds of mayor-council forms of
government

 Weak- the mayor has little power and the
council has legislative and executive power
 Strong- the mayor has lots of power to carry
out laws
Mayor-council form
Review

What is the difference between a weak
and strong mayor-council form of
government?
Forms of city
governments

Council-manager form- city
council is elected to pass
and carry out laws and
they hire a manager to
perform day to day duties
 Different from a weak mayor-
council because the
manager is NOT elected
Forms of city governments

Commissioner formcitizens elect
commissioners who
are in charge of
different departments
of the government.
The mayor is elected
by these
commissioners.
Local government

Why do we need city and county
governments?

What services do they provide?
Special Purpose Districts

Special-purpose districts- created for a
single purpose or group of tasks
 Example- school districts have the sole purpose
of providing education to students
 Other examples- MARTA, Airport districts
It would be too time consuming for the
state to make all educational decisions for
all schools. So local school boards are
elected to do this job.
 Special-purpose districts always exist for
public welfare.

Review

What are the three types of city
government?

Who can create a city government?