Powers of Local Governments Flashcards
no powers unless conferred in charter
localities have no existence and no rights prior to organization, so they have inherent powers. instead, the nature, number, and duration of the powers conferred and territory over which they may be exercised must be expressly provided in the legislatively enacted charter for the locality or in general statutes conferring powers on localities in Virginia
Most localities have the following powers
to tax
to sue and be sued
to enter into contracts
to acquire, hold, and dispose of its revenue
to exercise eminent domain
to borrow money and issue tax-exempt bonds
to acquire, hold, and dispose of real and personal property
redelegation is limited
powers conferred by charter and statutes must generally be discharged by the governing body of the locality. in narrow areas like land use administration, some limited re-delation is allowed, but only if exercise of power is. controlled by fixed and readily ascertainable standards
Dillon’s Rule
Locality can exercise only those powers expressly granted by statute or charter and no other powers, unless necessarily implied in or incident to the powers expressly granted, or unless the implied power is essential and indispensable to the declared purposes for creating the locality
Scope of Dillon’s rule
Applies uniformly to counties. The Uniform Charter Powers Act permits legislature to provide that approved cities and towns may exercise powers that are necessary or desirable to promote general welfare, but this has only been given to a few cities, so almost all cities are governed by Dillon’s Rule
choice of methods
where legislature grants a local government power to do something but doesn’t specifically direct the method of implementation, the locality’s choice on how to implement will be upheld as long as the method is reasonable. Any doubt regarding reasonableness is resolved in favor of the locality
power to incur debt
a ballot vote or special hearing must be held before bonds may be issued.
bonds may generally be issued only for capital expenditures
10% limit on amount of debt
no locality may issue general obligation bonds in excess of 10% of assessed valuation of real estate subject to taxation in the locality. exceptions include:
revenue anticipation bonds - to be paid back from expected taxes already in place within one year are not subject to 10% debt ceiling
special fund bonds that will be paid down in 5 years or payment of which will flow directly from the project to be funded
projects where payment will come from assessments on property benefitted by improvement, debts arising from civil and criminal judgments against locality, debts from daily expenses, continuing service contracts, ordering of supplies
police power
locality may adopt rules and regulations as are reasonable and necessary for the protection of its inhabitants. must relate to health, safety, morals, and welfare. of inhabitants of state and must not be arbitrary, discriminatory, or unreasonable
taxation
localities generally have power to tax for public purposes. localities may NOT impose income tax, so must funding for local government comes from property tax
licensing
localities generally have power to license any business, occupation, or activity. licenses merely extension of permission to perform certain activities. license taxes often based on gross receipts of an activity, it is held to be distinct from income tax
franchising public services
locality has power to authorize use of public property by utilities, taxis, cable, etc.
