Citizendia

The definitions of the political subdivisions of the US State of Wisconsin differ from those in certain other countries or even various other U.S. states, leading to misunderstandings regarding the governmental nature of an area. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government

Whether a municipality is a city, village or town is dependent not only on the community's population or area, but in large part on the form of government selected by the residents and approved by the Wisconsin State Legislature. A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a City, Town, or Village, or A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a Town or City. A town is a type of settlement ranging from a few to several thousand (occasionally hundreds of thousands inhabitants although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan In Biology a population is the collection of inter-breeding organisms of a particular Species; in Sociology The Wisconsin Legislature, based in Madison, is Bicameral and is composed of the Wisconsin State Assembly and the Wisconsin State Senate. In Wisconsin, local units of general purpose government include counties, cities, villages and towns. A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. There are also a number of special purpose districts formed to handle regional concerns, such as school districts

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County

The county is the primary political subdivision of Wisconsin. School districts are a form of Special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools A county is a Land area of Regional Government within a larger State. Wisconsin has seventy-two counties, covering the entire state. Every county has a county seat, often a populous or centrally located city or village, where the government office for the county are located. A county seat is a term for an Administrative center for a County, primarily used in the United States. Within each county are cities, villages and towns.

A Board of Supervisors is the main legislative entity of the county. Supervisors are elected in nonpartisan elections for two-year terms (except in Milwaukee County where they served four years). Milwaukee County is a county in the US state of Wisconsin. As of 2007 the population was 951242 The type of executive official in each county varies; ten counties have a County Executive elected in a nonpartisan election for a four-year term; ten counties have appointed County Administrators; and 48 have appointed Administrative Coordinators. Other officials include a sheriff, district attorney, clerk, treasurer, coroner, register of deeds and clerk of courts. By 2008, all of these offices state-wide will have four-year terms. In most counties, elected coroners have been replaced by appointed medical examiners.

Counties are generally responsible for social services, such as child welfare, job training and care of the eldery; and public land management, such as care for parks. Law enforcement and road maintenance are also administered by the county, in conjunction with local municipalities.

City

In Wisconsin, a city is highly autonomous incorporated area within one or more counties. A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status An autonomous area is an area of a Country that has a degree of Autonomy, or freedom from an external authority It provides almost all services to its residents and has the highest degree of home rule and taxing jurisdiction over them. This article deals with personal residence in a given place For other uses see Residency (disambiguation and Resident. The City of Milwaukee, the only "First class city" in the state, has its own special rules apart from all other cities. As of 2005, Wisconsin had 190 cities.

The home rule authority granted to cities allows them to make their own decision about their affairs, administration and a good deal of their public policy, subject to state law. Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government

Cities are governed by Common Councils consisting of the mayor and elected aldermen. City officers include a mayor, treasurer, clerk, attorney and health officials. Cities may also, by their discretion, have an engineer, comptroller, assesors, street commissioner, constable and a board of public works.

Cities can also elect to hire a city administrator instead of an elected mayor. In cities that have city administrators, often the head of the common council is referred to as mayor.

Cities in Wisconsin are generally divided into four classes:

There are exceptions to these classes, however; in order for a city to move from one class to the next, certain governmental changes need to take place and the mayor must publish a proclamation. For these reasons, Madison is still a second class city, Waukesha is still a third class city and several cities with a population of over 10,000 are still fourth class Cities. Madison is the capital of the US state of Wisconsin and the County seat of Dane County. Waukesha (ˈwɔːkɨʃɔː is a city in and the County seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, in the the [1]

In order to incorporate as a city, a community needs to have at least 1,000 citizens if it is in a rural area or 5,000 if it is in an urban area.

Village

In Wisconsin, a village is an autonomous incorporated area within one or more counties. A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet, but smaller than a Town or City. It provides various services to its residents and has a degree of home rule and taxing jurisdiction over them. Home rule refers to a demand that constituent parts of a state be given greater self-government within the greater administrative purview of the central government As of 2005, Wisconsin had 400 villages.

The home rule authority granted to villages allows them to make their own decision about their affairs, administration and a good deal of their public policy, subject to state law.

Villages are governed by a Village President and a Board of Trustees. Village officers include a president, clerk, treasurer and assessor. Villages can also elect to hire a village manager instead of an elected village president.

In order to incorporate as a village, a community must have at least 150 citizens if it is in a rural area or 2,500 if it is in an urban area.

Town

In Wisconsin, a town is a municipality within a county; in this usage, Wisconsin towns are similar to civil townships. A civil township is a widely used unit of Local government in the United States, subordinate to a county. All areas in the state which have not been incorporated as a city or village are parts of towns. Towns provide a limited number of services to its residents. The US Census considers Wisconsin towns to be minor civil divisions. Minor civil division (MCD is a term used by the United States Census Bureau to designate the primary Governmental and/or Administrative divisions of a As of 2005, Wisconsin had 1,260 towns.

Towns are governed by Town Boards, with the board chairperson at its head. Towns also have a clerk, treasurer and assessor either elected or appointed by the board. In addition, every town must hold an annual town meeting in the beginning of April. A town meeting is a meeting where the population of an entire geographic area is invited to participate in a gathering often for a political administrative or legislative purpose At this town meeting, the electors may authorize the town board to take certain actions or change the make up or wages of town supervisors or officers.

Towns have less authority than villages and cities; they do not, for instance, have home rule granted to them by the state, but instead only have specific powers granted to them under state statute. At the very minimum, towns maintain their roads and zone land (Though in some locales, counties have control over zoning. Example: Milwaukee County until the final incorporation in the late 1950s). Towns may choose to provide more services however, overlapping with those provided by the county. In most cases, however, towns provide limited services and thus town residents often pay lower taxes than their city or village counterparts.

Towns are often annexed by neighboring cities and villages in whole or in part. In Brown County, the Town of Preble was incorporated wholly into the city of Green Bay in 1964, thus terminating its status as a town. Preble was a town in Brown County Wisconsin, United States. History The town was founded on July 13, 1859, and was Green Bay is a city in and the County seat of Brown County in the U Piecemeal annexation has left some rather small towns, such as the Town of Germantown which covers 1. Germantown is a town in Washington County, Wisconsin, United States. 7 square miles (4. 4 km²), or the Town of Brookfield covering 5. Brookfield is a town in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. 5 square miles (14. 2 km²). This contrasts with the Town of Winter which covers 279. Winter is a town in Sawyer County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 969 at the 2000 census 5 square miles (723. 9 km²). Most towns are about the size of a survey township, or 36 square miles (93 km²). Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of The Town of Menominee is unique in that it is coextensive with the County of Menominee, and covers 365 square miles (945 km²); this is due to its unique history and connection with the Menominee Indian Reservation. Menominee is a town in Menominee County, Wisconsin, United States. Menominee County is a county in the US state of Wisconsin. As of 2000 the population was 4562 The Menominee Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation located in northeastern Wisconsin for the Menominee.

In Wisconsin, towns are often co-terminous with survey townships. Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of The survey, or Congressional, townships, a result of the Land Ordinance of 1785, were further subdivided into 36 sections of one square mile each. The Land Ordinance of 1785 was adopted by the United States Congress on May 20, 1785. One section was set aside for sale as the "School Section," which was used to support the schools. This grid system is based on a Point of Beginning (POB) created by surveyor Lucius Lyon in 1831 near Hazel Green, Wisconsin (the Fourth Principal Meridian) and used the Illinois boundary for a baseline. See also Public Land Survey System The Point of Beginning is a surveyor 's mark at the beginning location for the wide-scale surveying of land Lucius Lyon ( February 26, 1800 &ndash September 24, 1851) was a U Hazel Green is a village in Grant and Lafayette Counties in the U The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. Development based on this grid system can be seen on maps today as the major through streets, such as those in Milwaukee, which line up with boundary intersections. Lyon's POB is observed by a Wisconsin Historical Marker and a reset surveyor's monument. [2]

See also urban town, a proposal for semi-incorporation of more urbanized towns. An urban town is a proposed classification for towns in the State of Wisconsin, similar to the Urban townships of Minnesota and

Other named places

There are numerous examples of unincorporated communities throughout the state. In Law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any Municipality. These areas have no legal status and are administered by the town or municipality in which they exist.

Special purpose units of government

In Wisconsin, special purpose units of government provide specialized services for those who live within the district, and are empowered to tax residents of the district for the services provided in common. Special districts often cross the lines of cities, villages and towns. In 2006, Wisconsin had over 1,100 special districts. [3]

These special units of government are created to solve problems that are regional in nature, and sometimes to get around the limits on debt that each municipality can have. The state can also exert more control on special districts through the governor's appointments to district boards. Politicians also set up some special districts to insulate themselves from the sometimes unpopular taxes these boards levy, since the boards are often appointed and not elected.

School districts

School districts are the most common kind of special district. School districts are a form of Special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools They provide, arrange or contract for all public education services, including special education and school transportation, the latter also for non-public schools. In 2006, Wisconsin had more than 440 school districts.

School districts are often not precisely coextensive with municipalities that bear the same name, meaning that a person living in one hamlet or village might send their children to a school associated with a different hamlet or village. Residents pay school taxes to the same school district in which they live and their children attend school.

Technical college districts

Wisconsin's sixteen technical college districts levy taxes to fund the Wisconsin Technical College System. Wisconsin Technical College System is a group of 16 technical college ( Community colleges in Wisconsin. These sixteen technical colleges provide occupational training for their residents at a reduced cost. Vocational education or Vocational Education and Training (VET also called Career and Technical Education (CTE prepares learners for jobs that are based

Sports districts

The Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District and the Professional Football Stadium District were created to raise money for the building of Miller Park and Lambeau Field respectively. Lambeau Field is an outdoor football stadium in Green Bay Wisconsin, the home of the NFL 's Green Bay Packers.

The baseball district built, operates and manages the stadium used by the Milwaukee Brewers. The Milwaukee Brewers are a Major League Baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which plays in the Central Division of the National League It financed its activities through the sale of bonds, which it repays through a . 1% sales and use tax on goods sold in the district over $10. 00. It encompasses the counties of Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Washington and Waukesha. Milwaukee County is a county in the US state of Wisconsin. As of 2007 the population was 951242 Ozaukee County is a county in the US state of Wisconsin. As of 2000 the population was 82317 Racine County is a County located in the US state of Wisconsin. Washington County is a county in the US state of Wisconsin. As of 2000 the population was 117493 Waukesha County is a county in the US state of Wisconsin. As of 2000 the population was 360767

The football district issued bonds to renovate the stadium used by the Green Bay Packers. The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay Wisconsin. It repays its bonds through a . 5% sales tax on goods sold in the district, which is coextensive with Brown County. Brown County is a county located in the US state of Wisconsin.

Other types of special purpose units

Census-designated place

A census-designated place (CDP) is an area defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only, without any legal consequences. A census-designated place ( CDP) is a type of place (a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes The United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census as defined in Title) is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census In Wisconsin, a CDP is often a part of a town outside any villages. The CDP may cross town and county borders. A CDP cannot be any part of a city or a village, nor can it be the entirety of a town. CDPs usually resemble cities or villages in population density and structure. CDPs were formerly called unincorporated places.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Document:
  2. ^ Historic Markers - The Point of Beginning WI172
  3. ^ http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/GW/gw_12.pdf

External links

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