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Explain the differences and similarities between the federal and state governments
Explain the differences and similarities between the federal and state governments
Explain the differences and similarities between the federal and state governments
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TTLSS Project - Local Government Revenue
A local government, like an individual family, needs to have an income. The reason for this is because in the same way that a family needs money in order to take care of its family members, so does a local government need to take care of its citizens. While the heads of households in a family goes to work in order to collect a paycheck, a local government gathers its income from the taxes that it charges for its everyday services to its citizens. Because taxes are paid in exchange for a service from the government, and because they are a government’s main source of revenue, it is very important that a local government keep a well-defined list of taxes that apply to its local situation.
Citizens everywhere need all kinds of services to help increase the quality of their everyday lives. State governments help make these big decisions about what the citizens need. However, they cannot make all of the services and policies happen. Therefore, it is necessary for them to have agencies help them make sure that all of the services which taxes pay for actually happen. These agencies are split into cities, counties, and special districts; the separation of agencies depends on the different types of responsibilities that they have.
Citizens everywhere need many services to increase the quality of their lives. While state governments help make the big decisions about what the citizens need, they use agencies to help make sure that all of the services which taxes pay for actually happen. These agencies are local governments that are split into cities, counties, and special districts depending on their different types of responsibilities.
In order for these different agencies to be able to keep u...
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...n Texas, having more property tax can be better than having an income tax. It is very important that local governments of each state get to decide their own taxes since different areas have different values.
Since Texas does not have an income tax, the S.C. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR) has reported that 91.8 percent of the funding for local governments in Texas comes from property tax. Texas local governments then get most of the rest of their funding from fees they collect.
Finally, it is also good to know how tax rates change. Usually, Local governments enforce the changes made by the state governments when they set new limits or increases. This enforcement is the biggest difference between them, but either way, both need the citizens to first pay for the services. Therefore, government funding from taxes and fees are very important.
The municipal system experienced a steady growth for several decades following the establishment of responsible municipal government in Ontario with the Baldwin Act of 1849 (Frisken 30). International interest was generated in 1954 with the creation of Metropolitan Toronto, the first major structural change in the system. Yet, it was not until’ 1967 that the Ontario Committee on Taxation recommended that the rest of Ontario be restructured in regional governments similar to the structure of Metropolitan Toronto (Frisken 30). As a result of the recommendation was the creation of ten regional...
Municipal control or an alternative delivery method? This is the question that has intrigued all levels of local government and created intense debates between taxpayers across municipalities. The services that municipalities provide are often vital to the existence of a local area. The issues of accountability, cost savings, quality of service and democracy often arise when choosing the best options to deliver services to a municipal area. In recent years the concepts of privatization, alternative service delivery and public-private partnerships are often promoted as ways cut down on overburdened annual city budgets and promote a higher quality of service to citizens. Municipalities have historically always provided basic services such as fire protection, water purification/treatment and recreational facilities. However, would private companies or another municipality be able to better deliver the same services more efficiently or at a lower cost? The city or town often provides a political grass roots approach to most local problems. Municipalities are better positioned and have a wider scope to provide services to their constituents in order to ensure quality of service that does not erode accountability and transparency, or drive the municipality deeper into debt.
An example of this would be that the federal government has control over the military, foreign policy, our postal system and the monetary policies. The state government has the responsibility for the police/law enforcement, road building and the schools.
The local governments in Texas are smaller units that form part of the larger state government. These local government extensions act as the administrative branch of the state government. The state of Texas relies mainly on its constitution of 1876 to establish the various local government jurisdictions. Currently, there are 254 counties, 50 cities, 1,100 education districts and 2,393 special districts in the state serving a population of 26 million people (Collier et al.). Each of these branches of the local government has specific roles, which they are supposed to play.
Texas has a wide variety when it comes to sizes of its cities and towns, with the most populated city being Houston, with a population of 2,099,451, and the least populated city being Los Ybanez city, with a recorded population of only 19. (togetherweteach.com) With that in mind, it’s important to have different types of local governments to best accommodate the type of city or town. There’s one problem with that though. What if a huge corporation moves into a small town, increasing the population significantly and changing the dynamic of the city in a matter of 2-3 years? "Local community decisions about what government-types are chosen, and when, have lasting consequences for the future configuration of governments in an area. If cities are established earlier...then fewer government options are available later.” (Thomas, 1993) With the way local governments are determined now, it’s unlikely that the government would be able to quickly change how it functions and accommodates to its citizens. Even something like campaigning, which may not have been needed much during elections beforehand due of the closeness that tends to happen in people of small towns, would be a much bigger part of running for a local
The relationship between a local government and its people is typically a combined form of stability, as well as discordant moments of tension and rising-to-dramatic change. More specifically, the political climate of the local government differs depending on how those people view the three aspects of their governmental calls and needs: rights and responsibility of the people, obligations of their government, and limits on the local governmental authority.
Local governments employ most of the United States civil servants. The 14 cabinet departments in the U.S. are run day-to-day by career civil servants, who have a great deal of discretionary authority.
...n our federal system has changed dramatically over the years. State governments have served as training grounds for national politicians and as laboratories in which new ideas can be tested. The Supreme Court, in its role as interpreter of the Constitution, has been a major player in the redefinition of our federal system. Increasingly, Congress has been guilty of undertaking areas traditionally reserved to the states and restricting authority to regulate these areas. Both federal and state politicians compete to address problems. Over the years, power in the federal system has flowed to the national government because tax money has flowed to there. With its financial resources, the federal government has been able to offer assistance to state and local governments and thereby, involve itself in just about every governmental function performed by these governments.
In conclusion, the state of Florida is made up into a wide range of state and local government agencies. The state agencies include the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The local agencies include the counties, municipalities, and special purpose districts. The counties and municipalities are general purpose agencies that include county and city government. The special purpose agencies are districts created for functions such as transportation, schools, water, etc.
Kevin B. Smith, Alan Greenblatt, and John Buntin, Governing states and localities: First Edition (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press), 2005, 95.
State government plays an integral part in the political system from allowing citizens to have multiple access points to influence policy to providing grants to improve communities. Local governments are a part of that state government which couldn’t function without the role that local communities contribute. State governments give their residents an opportunity to feel connected and influential in the policy making process. If America was only governed at the national level and not the federal level then the interests of the everyday citizen could not be heard. It would be more like a class system where only the elite had access to influence the policy makers. They also provide services that the federal government may not feel the need to implement yet or just to see how it works out within the states. “It was states that designed the first family leave legislation giving workers ti...
When states try to find ways to restrain from non-essential areas, unfunded federal mandates are at the top of the list. These mandates often force state and local governments to spend much more than necessary on everything from medical care to welfare to road building. A complex web of federal programs bind together the tree treasuries of the local, state, and federal government. As much as 25 percent of state budgets now comes from the federal government, and up to 60 percent of some state budgets is spent on joint federal-state programs.
Then there is the state government which are responsible for governing affairs within their borders, and carrying out federal laws and programs at the state level. They are governed by their own constitutions and retain any rights that the U.S. Constitution does not exclusively grant to the federal government. The state government is limited as they cannot form alliances with other states and must honor and respect the laws and institutions of the other states. And finally there is the federal government which is the central and highest level of government in the U.S. It is divided into three branches and each branch has its own rights and power to check and balance the powers of each branch. The federal government has the power to regulate taxes, establish federal welfare programs and make laws in the interest of the nation as a whole. There are also limitations set to the federal government’s authority, as they cannot ask local law enforcements agencies to do minor administrative jobs. Although all levels of government have their own responsibilities there are limits to interfering with other governments
State and local governments may be required to contribute partially to programs stemming from nonfederal revenue. When local and state governments have to spend more on these programs less of their own revenue is spent on programs of their choose and
Counties provide services mandated by law but can also provide services specific to their communities needs. Counties assess property value and collect property taxes. Counties are governed by an elected Board. These Supervisors appoint executives to manage functions of the county. Counties receive revenue from state and federal programs.