What Is City Incorporation?

How a City Is Born

• Cities are typically born when a significant number of people in a particular territory come together in a vote to form municipal boundaries and a government to support their common purpose. This is often done via a referendum. Residents living in rural, unincorporated townships, for instance, may feel that a government body to consolidate water, sewer, trash and other services would be more cost-effective than fending for themselves individually. Incorporation laws very by state, but most follow similar rules.
  
  

Who Heads the Corporation?

• There are several government structures that can make up a municipal corporation's governing body, but the two most common are the strong-mayor-council system and the council-manager system. In either case, the governing body or bodies fulfill the roles of board of directors and chief executives, similar to what is found in private corporations.
  
  In the strong mayor system, an elected mayor serves as the chief executive, and the elected members of the city council serve as the legislative arm of local government. The mayor in this system has veto power over legislative matters, while the council can override a veto with the proper number of votes. The mayor also appoints department heads.
  
  In the council-manager system, the mayor serves as the chairperson of the elected council, which in turn hires a professional city administrator to run the day-to-day business of the municipality.
  
  

Cogs in the Wheel

• Much like divisions within a private corporation, various municipal departments divvy up the duties of a city's day-to-day operation. Such departments can include sanitation (trash and sewer), water, public works (roads and sidewalks) and economic development. All departments have professional department heads who answer to the mayor, council, administrator, or all three.
  
  

How Cities Grow

• Municipal corporations can use the processes of annexation and eminent domain to grow. Annexation is the process of designating previously unclaimed, unincorporated land as part of a city's expanded borders. The rules for annexation are governed by state statute, and generally require a vote or votes by the municipal governing body.
  
  Eminent domain is the act of acquiring private land for the "common good" of a municipality. This requires legal procedures set out in a statute, and is usually preceded by purchase offers for the land.
  
  

Public Meeings

• Because they are public bodies funded by tax dollars, the business of municipal corporations is open to the public. City council meetings in which budgets are drafted and new city codes are debated are open to all citizens, and public notification in advance of the meetings is required.