Lesson 4: Your Municipality C-I-V-I-C

Municipalities in British Columbia BC is separated into 189 different communities called municipalities. There are different names given to municipalities. City Town Village Township County Region C-I-V-I-X

Powers and Responsibilities Municipalities are given their powers and responsibilities by the provincial government. Examples are: Roads and sidewalks, transportation systems/public transit, social housing, waste removal, community centres, and water and sewage.

Key Features of Municipalities Municipalities have a few things in common: A specific geographic area with boundaries The power to collect money from people (tax) A council that is formed through an election(where citizens vote for their preferences)

Taxes Municipalities collect money from people through a tax based on property ownership (property taxes). If you own a property, you will pay a certain percentage of its value in taxes every year. This money is used to pay for services that benefit the community such as police, and the building and maintenance of roads, sidewalks and parks.

Single-Tier or Two-Tier Municipalities in BC are either part of a single-tier or two- tier system A single-tier system has one government with one local council and it operates on its own. A two-tier system involve two layers of government and two councils.

Lower-Tier and Upper-Tier Two-tier systems include lower-tier and upper-tier municipalities. The lower-tier municipality has a local municipal council and government. An upper-tier municipality has a regional council and government, and acts as an umbrella by joining together two or more lower-tier municipalities. Upper-tier municipalities are responsible for regionalservices, such as police.

Local Council A local municipal council (single-tier or upper-tier) ismade up of a head of council, known as the mayor or reeve, and several council members, known as councilors or aldermen. Heads of council are elected by all voters in the municipality. This is called an at-large system. Council members can be elected either at-large or by a ward system of voting (where the municipality is broken down into smaller areas or sections).

The Role of Council Council members work together to manage the municipality and they take responsibility for its safety and future growth. Council members talk about issues of concern with the people in their municipality. These issues are then discussed with the wholecouncil in order to make necessary changes (creating and amending by-laws).

Final Thoughts Do you like living in your municipality? Why? Is there anything in your community that you would change or improve?