Local Government in Ohio - The Village

"Ohio Local Government
Structure and Finance

Bulletin 835-98

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F. Municipalities

The Ohio Constitution gives all municipalities home rule. This means that cities and villages may adapt laws for purposes of local self-government that are not specifically forbidden by or in conflict with general law. By way of contrast, counties and townships may perform only those functions that are specifically permitted by state law, unless they adopt, by vote of their citizens, an alternate or charter form of government.

Municipalities may choose from three different types of government - general statutory law, one of three optional statutory laws or charter. The optional plans and the charter require approval by vote of the citizens. Municipalities are classified as either villages (under five thousand population) or cities (five thousand and over).

General statutory law, described in ORC chapters 731 and 733, is the form of government of municipalities if the citizens have not adopted, by vote, one of the other forms. Under this form, for cities, the executive offices of mayor, president of council, auditor, treasurer and city solicitor are elected. A legislative body of from seven to 17 people, depending upon population, is also elected. In villages, the auditor and treasurer are often replaced by a clerk-treasurer, the mayor acts as the president of council, and the legal officer is appointed. Villages uniformly have a legislative body of six, with the mayor serving as president. If the village provides a utility service such as water, sewer or electricity, it will elect three citizens to a board of public affairs. Municipal mayors, who are chief executive officers, may appoint or remove the various department heads, such as police chief or public service director, appropriate to the municipality.

The president of council presides at council meetings, but has no vote except in the case of a tie.

The auditor, or village clerk, keeps the books of the municipality and makes certain that sufficient appropriated funds are available before vouchers are issued.

The treasurer receives and disburses all funds, and must keep an accurate account of them.

The city solicitor prepares all contracts and other documents for the city, and provides legal counsel for city officers.

The Ohio Revised Code, chapter 705, provides three optional plan forms of government that may be adopted by the voters of the municipality. All plans call for the appointment of a treasurer, auditor, clerk and solicitor by the legislative authority. Under the commission plan, the only elected officers are either three or five commissioners, depending upon population, who hold both legislative and administrative authority. They elect one of their body as chair. The commission may assign direction or supervision responsibilities to individual commissioners.

Under the city manager plan a council of five, seven or nine is elected as the legislative authority. They appoint a city manager who is the chief administrative officer.

If the federal plan is adopted, a mayor and five to 15 council members, depending upon population, shall be elected, with executive and legislative authority respectively.

Optional plan statutory forms of government are not commonly used, probably because the charter form is made available by the Ohio Constitution. With the charter, the municipality may develop any form of government that its voters approve. The charter allows the municipality to "fine-tune" its form of government, instead of adopting one of the prescribed plans. The charter has been used extensively in Ohio to enhance the home rule authority of municipalities.

Adoption of a charter is a two-step process. First, the issue of whether or not a charter commission should be elected is voted on by the people. Included with this issue is provision to elect 15 charter commissioners, who are elected if the issue passes. This issue may be placed on the ballot if petitioned for by 10% of the voters. If the charter commission is elected and formed, they have one year to prepare a proposed charter and submit it to a vote of the people. If it is adopted it becomes the basic framework for that municipality's government." (http://ohioline.osu.edu/b835/b835_6.html)

more information available on local government in ohio at

http://ohioline.osu.edu/b835/index.html

"Municipal Government

In Ohio, there are two kinds of incorporated municipalities, cities and villages. If a municipality has five thousand or more residents as of the last federal census it is a city, otherwise it is a village.^[1] Each municipality chooses its own form of government, but most have elected mayors and city councils or city commissions. City governments provide much more extensive services than county governments, such as police forces and professional (as opposed to volunteer) fire departments. Additional municipal services are often financed by local income taxes that townships cannot impose except in a Joint Economic Development District with a municipality. Not all municipalities levy income taxes; those that do range from 0.3% in the Village of Indian Hill to 3.0% in Parma Heights [1]." (Information From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_Ohio) (Side Note: The Village of Lynchburg does not have an Income Tax)

I believe it may be impossible to have a government closer to the people than a Municipality. It is a true local Government. The elected officials are within reach of any person, and their decisions have a direct impact on their constituents very quickly. At the same time the local authority has its hands tied, somewhat, in the decisions of Government that local people believe they should have or do have control over.
In order for there to be effective a more Government in the whole, the entire system (System being everyone involved) needs to work closer together, and understand the various roles of the entire Government System better, and communicate them. Without vital communication between the Local, State, and Federal Government, I think we as officials, find ourselves spinning our wheels, and/or working against each other. It's time for Common Sense Government, now more than ever, at every level.
Jeremy