Local Government Handbook March 13, 2018 Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor Rossana Rosado, Secretary of State A Division of the New York State Department of State ii Local Government Handbook COLLABORATORS TITLE : Local Government Handbook ACTION NAME DATE SIGNATURE WRITTEN BY Division of Local March 13, 2018 Government Services REVISION HISTORY NUMBER DATE DESCRIPTION NAME 7.0.0 March 13, 2018 7th Edition DoL Local Government Handbook iii Contents 1 The Origins of Local Government and the Federal System1 1.1 The Heritage of History . .1 1.2 Some Basic Beliefs . .3 1.3 The Federal System . .9 2 The State Government 13 2.1 The Legislature and the Legislative Process . 13 2.2 The Governor . 17 2.3 Lieutenant Governor . 19 2.4 State Comptroller . 19 2.5 Attorney General . 19 2.6 State Agencies . 19 3 The Judicial System 21 3.1 Court of Appeals . 23 3.2 Appellate Division . 24 3.3 Appellate Term . 25 3.4 Supreme Court . 25 3.5 Court of Claims . 26 3.6 County Court . 26 3.7 Surrogate’s Court . 27 3.8 Family Court . 27 3.9 Criminal Court of the City of New York . 28 3.10 Civil Court of the City of New York . 28 3.11 District, Town, Village and City Courts . 29 3.12 Court Financing . 31 3.13 Disciplining of Judges . 31 3.14 Court Administration . 31 iv Local Government Handbook 4 Local Government Home Rule Power 33 4.1 Constitutional and Statutory Sources of Local Authority . 34 4.2 Local Legislative Power . 41 5 County Government 45 5.1 What is a County? . 45 5.2 Historical Development . 46 5.3 The Changing Nature of County Government . 48 5.4 The County Charter Movement . 49 5.5 County Government Organization . 51 5.6 The Functions of County Government . 56 5.7 Elections . 56 5.8 Transfer of Functions . 57 5.9 Summary . 57 6 City Government 59 6.1 What is a City? . 59 6.2 Home Rule and the Cities — Historical Development . 60 6.3 Home Rule and the Cities — In the 1900s . 61 6.4 The Forms of City Government . 61 6.5 Contents of City Charters . 64 6.6 Decentralization and Urban Problems . 65 6.7 New York City . 66 7 Town Government 69 7.1 The Beginnings of Town Government . 69 7.2 Characteristics of Towns . 70 7.3 Government Organization . 71 7.4 Operations and Services . 74 7.5 Summary . 79 8 Village Government 81 8.1 What is a Village? . 81 8.2 Historical Development . 82 8.3 Creation and Organization . 83 8.4 Financing Village Services . 87 8.5 Village Dissolution . 87 8.6 Trends . 89 Local Government Handbook v 9 Special Purpose Units of Government 91 9.1 Public Education . 91 9.2 Organizing for Fire Protection . 96 9.3 Public Benefit Corporations . 99 10 Citizen Participation and Involvement 103 10.1 The Electoral Process . 103 10.2 Referenda . 106 10.3 Facilitating Citizen Participation . 108 10.4 Public Information and Reporting . 110 10.5 Handling Citizen Complaints . 113 11 Administering Local Finances 115 11.1 Tax and Debt Limits . 115 11.2 Borrowings and Debt Management . 119 11.3 Municipal Finance Administration . 120 12 Financing Local Government 127 12.1 Local Expenditures in New York . 127 12.2 Local Government Revenues . 130 12.3 Property Taxation . 130 12.4 Local Non-Property Taxes . 136 12.5 Special Charges, Fees and Earnings . 138 12.6 State Aid . 139 12.7 Federal Aid . 141 13 Personnel Administration 143 13.1 Historical Development . 143 13.2 New York State Civil Service Law . 144 13.3 Local Civil Service Administration . 145 13.4 Federal Acts Aecting Personnel Administration . 149 13.5 State Assistance and Training . ..