County Government Counties – subdivisions of the state set up to carry out governmental functions – 159 counties in GA All county governments must be uniform Board of Commissioners head up the county and establishes policies, laws and the county budget County Manager is the chief executive officer of the county and their role is to carry out county policies Elected officials: clerk of superior court, judge of probate court, sheriff, coroner, tax commissioners Appointed officials: county clerk, tax assessors, attorney, fire chief

Forms of City Government Mayor-Council Form – elected city council and elected mayor. * Strong-mayor system: Mayor has executive and legislative powers, council determines policy and raises revenue *Weak-mayor system: council has executive and legislative powers, mayor has few powers. He or she is more a figure head council-manager form: council members elected and establish laws and policies. Hires a manager to deal with the day to day * commission form: elected commissioners are head of a department within the city

Sharing Services Cities and counties often work together in sharing services. Multiple cities can exist within a county. County and City governments often share financial responsibility in funding public services Ex. of shared services: Library services, Hospital services, property zoning, Municipality – a city with its own government Special-purpose district: created for a single job or task, Ex. Board of Education, MARTA, Airport Authority

Funding the State and City City funding and revenue * ad valorem taxes-taxes on property based on real market value *User Fees – citizens pay fees for local government services (water & sewage, recreation facilities, parking) * sales tax – a tax on items purchased Majority of local government funding comes from property taxes and user fees Special Purpose local option sales tax(SPLOST)- tax voted on by citizens every 5 years to fund local improvement projects.

Funding the State and City Revenues: sources of income for the state Expenditures: plans for spending the funds 90% of GA’s revenue come from taxes 50% of GA’s revenue comes from Income taxes, 30% from sales tax 54% of GA’s expenditures goes toward education, 23% human services