Local Government in Texas
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| Decentralized nation | A country, such as the US, that possesses many units of local government controlled by citizens at the local level (US = most decentralized in world!)
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| Nationwide, about ______ units of local government. ______ in Texas. | 90,000
5,000
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| All local governments are creatures of the _______ and power is derived from _________________ | State
State constitutions and statutes
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| General-purpose governments | A government given broad discretionary authority by the state government
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| Limited-purpose governments | A government that has very limited authority or control over its finances and is governed by a set structure
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| School districts and counties are examples of ________ governments. | Limited purpose
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| Texas cities are an example of _________ government. | General-purpose
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| City governments are technically ___________ | Municipal corporations
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| State government grants _________ to cities. | Charters.
A document like a constitution, basic structure and organization, outline of power and authority
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| General-law city | A city whose charter is created by state statutes (can choose from 7) 938
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| Home-rule city | A city whose charter is created by the actions of local citizens. Pop must be 5,000+
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| Implicit or explicit prohibition on city ordinance power | Limitation on the power of cities, preventing them from passing ordinances that are explicitly prohibited by state law and from passing ordinances that by implication may violate state law
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| Home-rul charters may be amending IF | approval of city voters
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| Incorporation | The process of creating a city government.
Petition, election held, voters must approve, state issues charter
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| Requirements to become a city in Texas | 201 citizens within 2-squre mile area
signed by 10% of voters and 50% of landowners
County judge calls election
City is created, general-law charter adopted. Second election held to elect officials.
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| Extra territorial jurisdiction | City powers that extend beyond the city limits to an adjacent area
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| A city may/maynot be incorporated within the ETJ of existing city unless that city approves. | MAY NOT
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| Cities can ______ lands inside their ETJ. | Annex.
City council, majority vote, unilaterally annes land
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| Impact, Texas | Allow for sale of liquor. Abilene. Surrounded.
Law passed creating ETJ, limiting incorporation of cities inside them.
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| Two basic forms of government in US and Texas: | Mayor-council and council-manager
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| Traditional form of city government is | mayor-council
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| Weak executive | Mayor shares power, authority limited, terms limited, little or no veto
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| Strong executive | Appoint/remove, budget, no term limits, can veto
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| There are many more _________ forms in the general-law cities in Texas than in home-rule cities. | Mayor-council
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| Galveston unique government style | Commission form. Five commissioners to oversee rebuilding of city after hurricane. Single body of government.Transition.
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| Most popular form of government in Texas cities | Council-manager
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| Council-manager | A form of government in which voters elect a mayhor and a city council; the mayor and the city council appoint a professional administrator to manage the city.
All cities EXCEPT HOUSTON
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| City manger can do what? | Appoint/remove heads of departments, responsible for budget and execution, day-to-day
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| _________ is the policy-making body. | Council
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| p. 785 | mission, policy, administration, management
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| In council-manager govt, mayor is | NOT chief executive. NO separation of powers. member of city council. leader, presides, reps.
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| City manager | Official hired by the city council to manage the city and serve as chief administrative officer
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| Single-member district | A system in which the city is divided into election districts and only the voters living in that district elect the council member from that district. Tranditional method. MOST
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| At-large election system | System in which all voters in the city elect the mayor and city council members
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| Cumulative voting | A system in which voters can concentrate all their votes on one canidate rather than casting one vote for each office up for election
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| Preferential voting | A system that allows voters to rank candidates for the city council
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| Many cities have moved since Voting Rights Act was amended from ___________ to ___________ | At-large system to SMD. More minorities!
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| Mayors are generally elected in | at-large elections
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| Nonpartisan elections | Ballot form in which voters are unable to determine the party of candidates by looking at the ballot. About 70% are elected this way now.
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| No city to date has used ______ elections. | Partisan
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| Voter turnout in city elections is _______ | Quite low. Lower than state. Low as 4% , rarely about 25%
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| Reasons for low voter turnout | off-year elections, lack of contested races, low levels of voter interest
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| Off-year elections | Local elections held at a different time of year from state and national elections
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| ______ and ______ more accurately describe what happens in county government. | Patronage and politics
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| Local governments in Texas collect taxes from two primary sources: | Property tax, sales tax
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| Sales tax broken down | 6.25 state
2.0 local
8.25 total
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| State-level property tax in texas? | NO
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| As taxes climb, local govt must abide by more and more mandates. | Laws passed by federal and state that apply to local.
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| Unfunded or underfunded mandates | Laws enacted by federal or state governments that impose responsibilites and financial burdens on city and county governments
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| Oldest type of local government in US | County government
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| County government | The oldest type of local government, adapted from British, whose numbers vary greatly among states; it is the primary administrative arm of a state govt, providing services such as voter registration, courts and jails, roads and bridges
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| Texas has _______ county governments. | 254
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| County govt originally intended as _________ of state govt. | Subdivision, arm.
Voter registrar, marriage, birth, car registration, courts.
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| All Texas counties provide | Road construction, police.
SOME: Hospitals, libraries, parks
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| How many counties in US? | 3043
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| In TExas, _____% of op live in 10 largest urban counties. | 56
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| How are heads of major departments chosen? | Elected@
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| County commissioner's court | Legislative body made up of five elected officials that governs Texas counties.
1 constitutional county judge,
4 county commissioners
Local ordinances, budgets, programs, oversee govt.
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| County judge _____________ Commissioners _______________ | Elected at large
single-member districts called commissioner precinct
4 year term. Partisan.
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| Constitutional county judge | Chief administrative officer of the county commissioner's court; may also have judicial duties in rural counties
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| Where county courts of law are created, constitutional county judge | has very limited judicial functions
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| Seven constitutionally prescribed officers are elected by voters: | Sheriff, district atttorney, county attorney, tax assessor collector, district clerk, county clerk, county treasurer
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| County sheriff | Elected head law enforcement officer for a county who in smaller counties may act as the tax assessor collector
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| Constables | Elected county law enforcement court officers
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| County and district attorneys | Elected chief prosecuting attorneys for criminal cases
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| Tax assessor collector | Elected officer responsible for collecting revenue for the state and the county.
Voter registrars, licenses, permits, property tax
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| Tax assessment districts governed by | Board elected by the governing bodies of all govt in the jurisdiction
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| County clerk | Elected chief record keeper for the county.
Marriage, birth, other records.
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| District clerk | Elected official who maintains county and district court records.
Court official.
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| County treasurer | ELected official who manages county funds
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| District judge | Elected official who appoints the county auditor.
If under 10,000, don't have to have auditor. Acts as budget officer.
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| Challenges to county govt | Lack of power, plural executive, Hire own staff, not always competent, designed for rural, lack general ordinacne authority, inequity of financial resources
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| Texas Association of Counties | Umbrella organization that represents elected county officials. Oopses granting county govt home rule.
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| Special districts are often referred to as _________ governments. | Shadow.
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| Examples of special districts: | fire, water, sewer, mass transport, soil and water conservation, flood conrtol
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| MUDS Municipal utility districts | Multifunction districts generally created outside cities to provide water, sewage, and other services
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| Multiconty special districts are governed by ______________. Single-county special districts usually have ______________. | Boards appointed by governmental units covered by district.
Board of directors elected by voters.
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| Many special districts do/dont have taxation authority? | DO.
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| Demand today is not for consolidation but for | decentralization with "open-enrollment charter schools"
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| Independent school districts | School districts that are not attached to any other unit of govt and operate schools in Texas.
All but 1 of 1089.
Seven member school board elected some single-member, most at large, all nonpartisan.
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| Issues in school politics | Finance, quality, curriculum.
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| State pays about ______% of education cost. | 38%
Local districts provide remainder. Property tax.
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| "Robin Hood plan" | nickname for provision in the education statutes that consolidated property taxes so that they are distributed among rich and poor districts; revised later to require rich districts with a property tax base per pupil above 305,000 to share wealth
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| _______% of school districts in texas are poor districts. | 90
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| Perry called special session for school finance. Redo. | Reduction in property tax for homes, more for business, tax increase on smoking, more franchise tax for businesses
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| House Bill 72 | Funding for teacher pay raise.
Required state's teachers to pass a test to prove their competency.
No-pass no-play.
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| First school accountability program under | Anne Richards.
Then Bush, Texas Assesment of Academic Skills
(penalized low-income and minority)
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| Three curriculum issues | Sex education, intelligent design, bilingual education
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