Local Government: Who Runs It, What It Decides, and How They Are Elected
The short answer. Local government makes the decisions closest to daily life: police and fire, streets, water and trash, parks and libraries, zoning and building permits, the property tax rate, public health, elections administration and public schools. In most places it is not one government but several, each elected separately and each taxing separately.
This is the level of government with the most direct effect on an ordinary week and the least attention paid to it. Turnout in local elections routinely runs under 20 percent. Most residents cannot name a single member of their county board. Meanwhile those bodies set the tax rate, decide what gets built, and run the schools.
This page covers what each body does, whether the people on it are paid, how they get there, and how you reach them.
Local Government Is Usually Several Governments
Your home probably sits inside a county, a city or town, a school district, and one or more special districts, all at the same time. Each can have its own elected officials, its own budget, its own responsibilities and its own taxing authority.
That is why local government feels complicated when the basic idea sounds simple. It is not one thing with several departments. It is several governments sharing an address.
| Body | Usually decides | Usually chosen by |
|---|---|---|
| County board of supervisors, county commission, county council | The property tax rate, the sheriff and jail, courts and records, public health, elections administration, roads between towns, social services | Election, usually by district, often four-year terms |
| City, town or village city council, town council, board of aldermen | Zoning and building permits, local police and fire, streets and sidewalks, water, sewer and trash, parks, business licensing | Election, by district or at-large or a mix |
| School district school board, board of education | Superintendent hiring, the district budget, the calendar, attendance boundaries, curriculum adoption, school bonds | Election in most places, appointment in some large cities |
| Special districts water, fire, transit, library, hospital | One service each, funded by its own levy or fee | Election or appointment, varies widely |
Structure varies more at this level than at any other. Connecticut and Rhode Island have no county governments. Louisiana calls counties parishes and Alaska calls them boroughs. Some places have merged city and county into a single government. What your locality is called and what it controls is set by your state constitution and statutes, so the honest instruction is always to check your own county and city sites rather than assume.
What Local Government Does With Your Tax Dollars
Local revenue comes mostly from property tax, plus local sales tax where a state allows it, user fees, and transfers from the state and federal governments. The largest spending categories are consistent across the country.
- Public education. Almost always the single biggest item, frequently around half of all local spending once school district budgets are counted.
- Public safety. Police, fire, emergency medical services, and in counties the jail and the sheriff’s office.
- Infrastructure and utilities. Streets, sidewalks, bridges, street lighting, water treatment, sewer and stormwater, and trash collection.
- Health and human services. Public health departments, clinics, and in many counties the front line administration of social services.
- Parks, recreation and libraries. Small as a share of budget, high in visibility.
- Debt service. Repayment on bonds issued for schools, roads and buildings. Bond decisions bind a community for decades and often appear on a ballot as a referendum.
Every one of those numbers is public and adopted in a meeting that has to be announced in advance. Your property tax bill frequently itemizes which government gets which share, which makes it the most educational piece of mail most households receive all year.
The City Council
What does a city council do?
A city council is the legislative body of a municipality. It passes local ordinances, adopts the city budget, sets local tax rates and fees within state limits, approves zoning changes and land use decisions, grants business licenses, and oversees city departments. In most cities it also hires and supervises a professional city manager who runs daily operations.
What it usually does not do is administer anything directly. That distinction, between setting policy and running operations, is the single most useful thing to understand before walking into a council meeting with a complaint.
Do city council members get paid, and how much?
It depends almost entirely on the size of the community, and the range is enormous.
- Small towns. Frequently unpaid, or a token payment per meeting attended. Many council members in small municipalities receive nothing at all.
- Mid sized cities. Typically a part-time salary, on the understanding that members hold other jobs.
- Large cities. A full-time salary with staff, because the workload genuinely is full time.
Council pay is set locally, by charter or by ordinance, and it is public. The reliable way to find your own is to search your city’s budget document or municipal code for council compensation, or ask the city clerk, who is required to provide it.
How are city council members elected?
By election, in nearly every municipality, and usually in nonpartisan races where no party label appears on the ballot. Terms are commonly four years and frequently staggered so that only part of the council is up at a time. Many cities hold their elections in odd numbered years, separate from state and federal races, which is a major reason turnout is so low.
What does at-large mean?
An at-large seat is elected by every voter in the city. A district or ward seat is elected only by voters who live inside that district. Many councils use a mix of the two.
The difference matters more than it sounds. A district member answers to a neighborhood and can be reached about a neighborhood problem. An at-large member answers to the whole city and is harder for any single neighborhood to hold accountable, but is also positioned to think citywide. Which system a city uses has been the subject of significant litigation, because at-large systems can dilute the voting strength of geographically concentrated minority communities, an issue addressed under the Voting Rights Act.
How do you run for city council?
The steps are consistent even though the details are local. Confirm eligibility, which usually means being a registered voter who has lived in the city or district for a set period. Get the candidate packet from the city clerk or the county elections office. Gather the required signatures, file by the deadline, and file any required campaign finance registration. Filing deadlines are early and unforgiving, and missing one by a day ends the effort, so the first call to make is to the elections office rather than to a consultant.
The Mayor
What does a mayor do? A mayor is the head of a city government. In a strong-mayor city, the mayor runs the government day to day: proposing the budget, hiring and firing department heads, and often vetoing council decisions. In a council-manager city, which is the more common arrangement in the United States, the mayor presides over the council, represents the city publicly and votes as a member, while a professional city manager runs operations. Both are called mayor, and the difference in actual power between them is enormous.
This is one of the most useful things on this page, because almost nobody is taught it and it decides who you should be talking to.
Strong-mayor cities
The mayor is a chief executive, in roughly the way a governor or a President is. Typically the mayor prepares and proposes the annual budget, appoints and removes department heads, directs the administration, and holds a veto over council actions that the council can override by a supermajority. The mayor is elected directly by voters, serves full time, and is accountable at the next election. Most large American cities work this way.
Council-manager cities
The council is the governing body and it hires a professional city manager to run the government. The manager prepares the budget, supervises staff, and serves at the council’s pleasure, meaning a council majority can dismiss the manager. The mayor in this system is often a council member who was chosen by the other members or elected to the seat separately, may serve part time, and generally has no veto and no authority to direct staff. This form is used by a large share of American cities and by most small and medium ones.
Why the difference matters to you
If your street has not been repaved, the person who can actually order it done is the mayor in one system and the city manager in the other. Sending a strongly worded letter to a mayor who has no operational authority produces sympathy and nothing else. One phone call to the city clerk settles which form your city uses, and it is the single most useful call you can make before you start pushing on anything local.
Do mayors get paid?
It varies more than any other question on this page. Mayors of large cities are full-time officials with salaries comparable to other senior executives in local government. Mayors of small towns are frequently part time and paid a modest stipend, sometimes a few thousand dollars a year, and in some small municipalities the position is unpaid. The salary is set in the city charter or by ordinance and is a public record, so your city’s own budget document will tell you the exact figure.
How long is a mayor’s term?
Most commonly four years, with two-year terms also common in smaller municipalities. Some cities limit the number of consecutive terms and many do not. Terms and limits are set by state law and the city charter.
Can a mayor be removed?
Yes, through the routes state law provides. Many states allow a recall election in which voters petition to put the officeholder’s removal on the ballot. Removal for cause, criminal conviction and resignation are the other routes. The specific procedure, including the number of signatures a recall petition requires, is set by state law and varies widely.
The County Board
What is a board of supervisors responsible for?
A board of supervisors is the governing body of a county. In a supervisor system it is responsible for adopting the county budget, setting the county property tax rate, passing county ordinances, approving land use and zoning decisions, overseeing county departments and services, appointing members to county boards and commissions, and in many states supervising the administration of elections and public health.
The same body is called a county commission, a county council, a board of chosen freeholders or a quorum court depending on the state. The name changes. The job does not.
What makes counties different
Counties tend to hold the powers that are expensive and unglamorous: the jail, the courthouse, property assessment, deeds and vital records, the health department, and social services. In much of the country the county sets the property tax rate that funds all of it.
One structural point worth knowing. Many county offices are separately elected rather than appointed by the board, including the sheriff, the clerk, the treasurer, the commonwealth’s or district attorney, and the assessor. That means the board cannot simply direct them. Those officials answer to voters directly, which is a genuine and often overlooked feature of county government.
The School Board
What is the main function of a school board?
Governance, not management. A school board hires and evaluates the superintendent, adopts the district budget, sets district policy, approves the academic calendar, draws attendance boundaries, adopts curriculum and instructional materials, and approves bond and construction decisions.
It does not run individual schools, hire individual teachers, or manage daily operations. That is the superintendent’s job, and the board’s single most consequential act is choosing that person. Almost every dispute a parent brings to a board meeting is really about the boundary between those two roles.
Do school board members get paid?
In most of the country, no, or barely. School board service is commonly unpaid, or carries a small stipend per meeting. Some states prohibit compensation outright. A minority permit a modest salary, usually in large districts where the workload is substantial. Reimbursement for expenses such as conference travel is more common than salary.
This is worth sitting with. The board that controls the largest line in local public spending is, in most communities, staffed by volunteers.
Are school board members elected or appointed, and how often?
Most are elected, usually in nonpartisan races, with terms commonly of four years and frequently staggered so the whole board never turns over at once. A minority are appointed, most often in large cities where a mayor appoints some or all of the members, an arrangement usually created by state legislation.
Election timing is the detail that decides who actually chooses them. Many districts hold school board elections in odd numbered years or in spring, separate from state and federal contests, and turnout in those races is often in the single digits or low teens. That is not an accusation of anything. It is arithmetic, and it means a small number of votes carries unusual weight.
Who is eligible to run for school board?
Requirements are set by state law and are usually light: be of legal age, be a registered voter, and live in the district or in the subdistrict for a seat elected that way. Most states do not require any professional background in education. Some bar district employees or their close relatives from serving on the board that employs them. The elections office or the district clerk holds the definitive list for your district.
Why Local Government Is Important
Three reasons, in order of how often people underestimate them.
- It decides most of what you actually experience. Whether the road is repaved, whether the apartment building goes up, what your child’s school year looks like, how quickly an ambulance arrives, what your property tax bill says. None of that is federal.
- It is the level where one person still counts. A member of Congress represents hundreds of thousands of people. A city council member may represent a few thousand. A dozen residents at a council meeting on a specific item is a significant turnout, and officials at this level notice it.
- The barrier to entry is low. Local boards and commissions are frequently appointed from whoever applies, and seats go unfilled every year. Planning commissions, library boards, zoning appeals boards and civilian review bodies make real decisions and are open to ordinary residents.
How to Get Involved, in the Order That Actually Works
- Read one agenda before a meeting. Councils and boards are required to publish agendas in advance, usually several days. Reading one is the single highest return civic act available, because it tells you what is being decided while it can still be influenced.
- Use the public comment period. Most bodies reserve time at every meeting and most of that time goes unused. Three minutes, prepared, on one specific agenda item, from a resident who lives there, carries real weight.
- Write to the body before it meets. Written comment is usually entered into the record and read by staff, and it reaches members who were not in the room.
- Apply for an appointed seat. Ask the clerk which boards and commissions have vacancies. Many are filled by whoever applied, and some are open to residents regardless of citizenship.
- Run for office. The last step, not the first, and much more achievable after the four above.
How do I report corruption in local government?
Start with the office designed for it rather than with social media. Most states have an inspector general, an ethics commission or a state auditor with authority over local government, and many counties have their own. Financial irregularities can also go to the state auditor or comptroller. Criminal conduct goes to the district or commonwealth’s attorney, the state attorney general, or the FBI field office for federal offenses. Document dates, names and amounts before you file, and request the underlying records first, because a complaint supported by public records is treated very differently from one that is not. We describe the channels rather than assessing any particular allegation, and nothing here is legal advice.
Common Questions
What is local government, in one sentence?
The layer of government closest to residents, made up of counties, cities and towns, school districts and special districts, that delivers most public services and makes most decisions about land, schools and daily life.
What is the local government responsible for?
Public education, police and fire, streets and sidewalks, water and sewer, trash, parks and libraries, zoning and building permits, property assessment and the property tax rate, public health, vital records, and the administration of elections.
What city council district am I in?
Your city or county elections office publishes a district lookup, usually a map or an address search on the city website. The county elections office can also tell you, and your sample ballot lists every district you vote in. Here is how to find every official who represents you.
Who serves on a school board?
Residents of the district, elected in most places and appointed in some. Boards commonly have five to nine members, usually with staggered terms, and in most of the country they serve unpaid or for a small stipend.
What do city council members do all day?
In most cities, this is not a full-time job. Members read agenda packets that can run to hundreds of pages, attend committee meetings, respond to constituent contacts, and sit through evening council sessions. The reading is the part outsiders underestimate.
Can noncitizens take part in local government?
Attending meetings and speaking during public comment are generally open to residents rather than to voters, so citizenship is usually not required to be heard. Some appointed boards and commissions are open to any resident. Voting and holding elected office are a different matter and are governed by state law. Ask the clerk about a specific board, since the answer is genuinely local.
Are board meeting minutes public?
Yes. Every state has an open meeting law requiring that meetings of public bodies be announced in advance, held in public with limited exceptions, and documented in minutes that are available to the public. Agendas, minutes and most supporting materials are public records.
Keep Going
The three levels of government. Your county government. Your city or town. School and special districts. What actually happens at a council meeting. How to watch what your government is doing.
Sources
The existence, structure, powers and taxing authority of counties, municipalities, school districts and special districts are established by each state’s constitution and statutes and vary substantially. Compensation for city council and school board members is set by local charter or ordinance, or restricted by state law, and is published in local budget documents and municipal codes. Candidate eligibility, signature requirements, filing deadlines and campaign finance registration are set by state election law and administered by local elections offices. Open meeting and public records obligations, including advance notice of meetings and public availability of agendas and minutes, are established by state open meeting and freedom of information statutes in all fifty states. At-large election systems and vote dilution: Voting Rights Act of 1965, 52 U.S.C. 10301. Local government finance categories: United States Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State and Local Government Finances. Because every figure and rule on this page is set locally, verify the specifics with your own county, city, district or elections office. Nothing on this page is legal advice. Last checked August 28, 2026.