Skip to content Skip to main navigation Skip to footer

FAQ

A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.

In the United States, “municipality” is usually understood as a city

In a state law context, some U.S. state codes define “municipality” more widely, from the state itself to any political subdivisions given jurisdiction over an area that may include multiple populated places and unpopulated places.

In Canada, municipalities are local governments established

Types of municipalities within Canada include cities, district municipalities, municipal districts, municipalities, parishes, rural municipalities, towns, townships, villages, and villes among others. The Province of Ontario has different tiers of municipalities, including lower, upper, and single tiers.

In Australia, the term local government area (LGA) is used in place

Here, the “LGA Structure covers only incorporated areas of Australia. Incorporated areas are legally designated parts of states and territories over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility.”

In a number of countries terms cognate with “commune” are used

In some countries, the Spanish term ayuntamiento, referring to a municipality’s administration building, is extended via synecdoche to denote the municipality itself. In Moldova and Romania, both municipalities (municipiu; urban administrative units) and communes (comună; rural units) exist, and a commune may be part of a municipality.

Powers of municipalities range from virtual autonomy to complete

Corporate income tax, but may also receive substantial funding from the state. In some European countries, such as Germany, municipalities have the constitutional right to supply public services through municipally-owned public utility companies.

The term municipality may also mean the governing or ruling body

A municipality can be any political jurisdiction from a sovereign state, such as the Principality of Monaco, to a small village, such as West Hampton Dunes, New York.