Village (United States)

The term Village (Engl. For village ) is to refer to different political and geographical formations in parts of the United States needed.

Introductory remarks

The term village is used in this article for the following 25 US states. The list may not be complete. In the following, the states are named in which the term village has a formal (official, administrative) meaning that differs from case to case:

• Three states, Idaho , Minnesota and Oklahoma , specifically have no official villages.
• Two states know Villages as Special Areas, namely Maine and New Hampshire
• Alaska describes the settlements of the indigenous population ( Eskimos ; Indians ) as Villages.
• The term has different meanings in Maryland .
• In four states, villages exist as spatial-administrative administrative units (roughly equivalent to a German municipality (i.e. city or municipality)), whereby such a village does not differ significantly from other administrative units (town, city). This applies to Delaware , Florida , New Mexico , North Carolina .
• Villages exist in eight states as spatial-administrative administrative units (roughly equivalent to a German municipality ), but they differ from other administrative units primarily in terms of size, measured by population: Louisiana , Mississippi , Missouri , Nebraska , Ohio , Texas , West Virginia and Wisconsin .
• In the four states of Illinois , New Jersey , New York and Oregon , a village is primarily a specific form of local government.
• In Michigan , a village is part of a township but has limited local government .
• In Vermont , villages are subdivisions of New England towns and cities that should not be confused with towns in other parts of the United States that are identified by the same term.

Formal and informal use

In the United States , the term village is used as a term partly informally and partly formally and legally. Informally, it describes a type of administrative structure. Formally, it describes a diverse picture of formal legal types of a village due to federal responsibilities for local and regional administration. Under the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution, individual states are free to designate administrative entities as villages or not to do so. What exactly a village is then, how it is delimited and defined, is left to the states. In most cases, apart from administrative details, a village roughly corresponds to a German municipality . So it's more than just a village.

Villages in various US states

In the following states of the United States of America, the term village has a formal legal use as a name for a political-geographical or administrative unit, usually an administrative unit of the lowest level.

Alaska

While communities in Alaska are not referred to as villages , this name is used there in accordance with the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act as a name for the settlements of the indigenous population.

Delaware

Municipalities in Delaware receive either city , town, or village status . These differ neither geographically, demographically nor functionally in any significant way. A Delaware village does not necessarily have a mayor; B. the municipality of Village of Arden .

Florida

In Florida, parishes are called either cities , towns, or villages . There are hardly any legal differences between them.

Idaho

All parishes in Idaho are called Citys, although the terms town and village are occasionally used in parish statutes. With a population of 125 or more, a settlement can apply to the responsible county for city status.

Illinois

Communities in Illinois are as a city , town or village called. There are no differences between these for the US census authority. Nevertheless, a village differs considerably from a city (city, town) in terms of structure and minimum size measured by the number of inhabitants. Cities must have at least 2,500 inhabitants. Then they can become a city by referendum. With a population of 25,000 or more, a city automatically receives the rights and obligations of a “home rule government”. Illinois grants these cities extraordinary freedom in taxing their residents. Structurally, the village and city differ in the form of community representation. An Illinois village typically has a community leader and a board of trustees appointed by him . In contrast, the cities have a mayor ( Mayor ) and an elected city council.

Louisiana

Louisiana municipalities are categorized by size as measured by population as follows:

• 5000 inhabitants and more: City
• 1001 to 4999 inhabitants: Town
• 1000 inhabitants and less: Village.

Maine

Maine divides its communities into three types. Administrative units, as they are also registered as Municipality by the census authority , are called City , Town or Plantation . A city is an administrative unit with special legislation. They exist outside the other administrative units.

For cities it is possible to be administered by a “home-rule government”. The concept of the village is used within the so-called village corporations . As “special-purpose districts”, these differ from other municipal administrations, which are usually referred to as general-purpose districts . As a special-purpose district , they formally correspond to school districts, for example.

Massachusetts

In Massachusetts , all areas that belong to a incorporated municipality are called cities or towns . Some of them have villages that can be equated with neighborhoods . In particular, there are no separate administrative units and no official borders. However, there are some special cases in which villages or neighborhoods are still officially recognized, for example through special signs or through the use of the designation by the United States Postal Service .

Michigan

Michigan's constitution was originally designed for a sparsely populated, agricultural region. These were townships introduced as a primary form of local government until cities out formed that were spun off from the townships and were given full local self-government. Villages are limited independent ( home rule ) districts within the townships.

Ohio

Municipalities in Ohio are divided in terms of population number based on the size as follows:

• 5000 inhabitants and more: City
• 4999 inhabitants and less: Village.

Vermont

In Vermont , as in the other New England states, the states are divided into towns , which roughly correspond to the concept of township used elsewhere . Vermont is the only New England state in which there are villages within the Towns that have limited local government. The responsibilities of a village within its town are individually determined by a charter that must be approved by the Vermont Parliament.

Web links

• 2002 Census of Governments. Volume 1, Number 2: Individual State Descriptions. (English; PDF file; 4.80 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 2002 Census of Governments, Individual State Descriptions ( PDF ; 5.0 MB)
2. ↑ cf. 2002 Census of Governments. Volume 1, Number 2: Individual State Descriptions. P. 9ff.
3. ↑ cf. 2002 Census of Governments. Volume 1, Number 2: Individual State Descriptions. P. 47ff .; see also: Municipal statutes of the Village of Arden .
4. ↑ cf. 2002 Census of Governments . Volume 1, Number 2: Individual State Descriptions, p. 73.
5. ↑ cf. James M. Banovetz: Illinois Home Rule: A Case Study in Fiscal Responsibility. In: The Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy. No. 32/1, 2002. (also as PDF ( memento of October 7, 2006 in the Internet Archive )).
6. ↑ cf. 2002 Census of Governments . Volume 1, Number 2: Individual State Descriptions, pp. 77f.
7. ↑ cf. 2002 Census of Governments . Volume 1, Number 2: Individual State Descriptions, p. 113.
8. ↑ State of Michigan: Michigan's System of Local Government (PDF; 44 kB)
9. ↑ Ohio Revised Code Section 703.01 (A)
10. ^ Paul S. Gillies: History of Incorporated Villages. Vermont State Archives and Records Administration (accessed May 29, 2019)
11. ↑ Vermont State Archives and Records Administration: Villages and Cities (accessed May 29, 2019)