Local Governments
Chapter 7
Roots of Local Government
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Municipalities and Counties created when Texas
was a part of Spain and Mexico.
Under the Republic, counties (36) and municipalities
(53) were created.
After 1845, additional counties were created.
1876 Constitution continued county governments,
adding more offices and number of counties until
1931, when Loving County became the 254th county.
Home rule for Texas cities came with a constitutional
amendment in 1912.
Counties
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Administrative units of the state
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Collect taxes
Keep records
Conduct trials
Conduct elections
General purpose government
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Provide public safety
Public works
Parks, libraries, etc.
Government Structure
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Commissioners Court
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County Judge
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County judge and 4 commissioners
Adopts the budget and sets the tax rate
Legislative body for county
Presides over commissioners court
Performs executive functions
Sheriff
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Law enforcement
County Jail
Government Structure
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Tax Assessor-Collector
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County clerk
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Collects taxes
Automobile registration
Records of the county: births, deaths, marriages,
divorces, transfers of property
Elections
District clerk
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records of state district courts
Government Structure
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County Treasurer
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County’s banker and pays bills
Records of revenues and expenditures
County Auditor
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Counties with population greater than 35,000
Same functions as treasurer
Chief budget officer and finance officer
Audits county financial records
Approves accounting system
Checks monetary claims against county
County Finances: Taxing and
Spending
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Revenues
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Property tax
Sales tax
Bonds: general obligation and revenue
Fees: automobile registration
Expenditures
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Law enforcement
Roads and bridges
Services: parks, libraries, etc.
Criticisms of County Government
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Structure inflexible
Plural executive inefficient
No home-rule authority
Patronage hiring
Roads and bridges responsibility of county
commissioner in his/her precinct
Types of Cities
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General law cities
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Operates under the state’s general laws: can only
do what the state allows
Fewer than 5,000 residents
Property tax rate limited to $1.50/$100 assessed
valuation
Sunset Valley
Types of cities
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Home-rule city
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Creates its own charter: can do anything unless
prohibited by the state
More than 5,000 residents
Property tax limited to $2.50/$100 assessed
valuation
Austin
Forms of City Government
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Mayor-Council
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Strong Mayor-Council
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Most common for general law cities
Mayor is chief executive; council is the lawmaking body
Mayor is sole executive authority
Weak Mayor-Council
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Mayor shares executive powers
Mayor Council Government (strong)
Mayor Council Government (weak)
Forms of City Government
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Council-Manager
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Most common in home-rule cities
Council is the law-making body
Mayor is member of Council but has no executive
authority
Manager is the executive authority; hired by the
council; hires and fires department heads;
prepares budget
Reform during the Progressive Movement
Council Manager Government
Forms of City Government
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Commission
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Council is the law-making body
Mayor is member of Council but has no executive
authority
Each council member has authority over a specific
function of city government, e.g. police
department, fire department, etc.
Originated in Galveston, Texas after the hurricane
of 1900 destroyed the city.
No examples in Texas presently
Forms of City Government
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Citizen Advisory Boards
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Planning and Zoning Commissions
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Advise council in various areas
Temporary or permanent
Recommendations on changes to zoning and
subdivisions ordinances and exceptions to
subdivision ordinance
Boards of Adjustment
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Grant exceptions (variations) to the zoning
ordinance
Types of Council Elections
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At-large elections
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Voters cast number of votes equal to number of
council members being elected. Top vote getters
win council seats
At-large-by-place elections
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Council divided into numerically designated
places. Candidates file for a place. Voters choose
candidates in all places being contested. Majority
of votes necessary to win. Runoff if no candidate
receives a majority.
Types of Council Elections
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Single-member districts (wards)
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City is divided into geographic zones that are
equal in population, compact, and do not dilute
minority voting strength.
Voters choose only council member in their
geographic zone.
Mixed system
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Some council members elected at-large, and
other council members elected from singlemember districts.
Austin Single-member Districts
Austin Single-member Districts
Austin Single-member Districts
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Methods of Election
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At-large elections
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Council members act in interest of city as a whole
Minorities may not be represented fairly
Works well in small, homogeneous cities
Single-member and mixed systems
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Council members have more parochial outlook
Minorities more likely to be fairly represented
Works in large, heterogeneous cities
Alternative Election Systems
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Proportional Representation
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Council elected based on proportion of vote for
political parties
Cumulative Voting
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Like at-large systems EXCEPT voters can
allocate their votes as they wish.
For example, if four council seats were being
contested, each voter would get four votes. A
voter could distribute the four votes as s/he
wished: all four to one candidate, three to one
candidate and one to another candidate, etc.
City Ordinances
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Laws passed by city to provide services and
regulate activities in the city’s corporate limits
Most important are zoning and subdivision
ordinances
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Zoning ordinances involve height restrictions, use
restrictions, and density restrictions.
Subdivision ordinances provide restrictions for an
entire area
Growth of Cities
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Annexation
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Process by which city increases its size
Typically, a city annexes for several reasons:
provide services, increase tax base, extend its
regulations
City council usually makes the decision on
whether to annex an area
Area annexed is usually an unincorporated area
Growth of Cities
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Limits on annexation
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Annex up to 10 percent of its area per year with
maximum of 30 percent in any one year.
Annexation plan (100+ tracts residential) three
years prior to annexation. Annexation occurs
within 31 days of the 3-year anniversary. If not,
must wait five years.
Annexed area contiguous to current city limits.
Municipal services within 2 ½ years
Land use grandfathered
Strip annexation: 1000 feet swath 3.5 miles long
Growth of Cities
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Limits on annexation (continued)
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Make an inventory of the current services in the
area.
Provide to the annexed area all services currently
provided in its full-purpose boundaries no later
than two and one-half years after annexation.
Require negotiations and arbitration regarding
services.
Conduct at least two public hearings.
Not reduce level of services in the area from what
they were before annexation.
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction
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Area immediately surrounding a city
Extent of ETJ determined by the city’s
population: ½ mile to 5 miles
Area within a city’s ETJ cannot incorporate
without the city’s consent
Some regulations possible in a city’s ETJ, but
not zoning ordinances
Municipal Finances: Taxes and
Spending
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Revenues
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Property tax
Sales tax
Issues bonds: general obligation or revenue
Expenditures
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Police and fire protection
Public works: water, wastewater, streets, signs,
traffic control
Parks, libraries, health facilities, etc.
Join the Debate: Red-Light Cameras
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Arguments for Red-light Cameras
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Reduction in traffic fatalities
Law enforcement can focus on real problems
Constitutional method of traffic code enforcement
Arguments against Red-light Cameras
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Violate constitutional rights
Generate money but don’t improve safety
Other methods are more efficient
Special Districts
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Single purpose government
Formed by state legislature, state boards or
commissions, constitutional amendments,
county commissioners court, city councils
Formed because general purpose
governments can’t or won’t act
Funded by tax and fees
Types of Special Districts
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Educations districts
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Independent School Districts (ISDs)
Community College Districts
Water Districts
Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs)
Hospital Districts
Rapid Transit Authorities
Types of Special Districts
Type of District
Water & Wastewater
Econ & Com Dev
Health & Safety
Agriculture
Transportation
ISDs
Community Colleges
Total
# Active
1373
96
480
0
29
1227
50
3255
Problems with Special Districts
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Ease of creation
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Developers create MUD
MUD issue bonds
Homeowners pay through cost of home or
property tax and through fees for services
Obscurity to Public
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People may not realize they’re in a special district
Districts operate with little regulation
Alternatives to Special Districts
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Metrogovernments
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Regional government combining county and city
services
Offers economy of scale
Problems of eliminating positions and how to
integrate local governments
Intergovernmental contracting
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Government contracting with another government
to provide service
Alternatives to Special Districts
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Privatization
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Turning over government functions to private
companies
Controversial issue – police protection to security
firms, deed restrictions in subdivisions,
homeowners associations
Councils of Government
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Planning and Coordinating organizations for
other governments
No authority over members – similar to a
confederation
24 COGs in Texas
Provide technical and managerial assistance,
process applications for federal grants, and
run state and federal programs for the region
Local Governments and Democracy
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Many opportunities for citizen participation
Low voter turnout in local elections
Ignorance of local government, especially
special districts
Local governments affect people’s lives
directly