The Role of Local Government in Your Life

Abstract

This research paper entails the detailed research on the role of local government in our lives. This research paper explains different types of local government, their roles and responsibilities. This paper also explains the impact of local government has on our everyday lives by providing us numerous services, which ensures our safe and secure living.

Table of Content

Abstract2

Introduction4

Discussion4

Type of Local Government4

Local Government in Our Daily Life6

Conclusion8

References9

The Role of Local Government in Your Life

Introduction

Local government immensely lays direct impact on our daily life. Local government is responsible for solving problems of a specific community, city or county like water supply, safety, health, security, police protection, educational institutes, and recreational programs. It may happen that one of the relatives, friends, or neighbor might be a local official. These people are those who are influenced by local dwellers according to their needs and can influence the local officials in bringing improvement in current services. It is imperative for us to know the services provided by the local government that helps us in conducting our daily activities without any obstacle. For examples, parks, roads, lights outside our private property, municipality, hospitals, and educational institutions, along with the bans and permission of conducting certain activities like band on cigarettes were imposed by the local government of Philadelphia. All these decisions are taken by local government, who are blessing for us in commencing our lives with ease.

Discussion

Type of Local Government

There are four types of local government, providing different services to the dwellers, which include:

Counties

Governments with general purpose are known as counties, who are responsible for providing services in both urban and rural areas within their boundaries. It is reported that during 2007, they spent $1.6 billion, which is approximately 13 percent of the spending of local government. The distribution of the spending is entitled as:

Around a quarter of spending by county is allocated to transportations in forms of roads, and health in the form of county health department and hospitals.

The third largest spending of the counties is allocated for safety of public in forms of county jails and sheriff patrols.

Counties are also responsible in providing services like education, library facilities, security of the courts, code enforcement, planning for rural areas, collection of property taxes, and provision of space for the courts.

Cities

Cities are also general purpose governments, who are responsible for providing a vast range of services in the areas lying within their boundaries. It is reported that during 2007, cities for were responsible for spending around $4.5 billion, which are approximately 40 percent of the spending of local government. The fundamental services provided by cities include:

Safety of public, including ambulance, fire, and police.

Housing and environment like parks, code enforcement, sewerage, buildings, and solid waste.

Utilities like public transit, electricity, and water.

School Districts

During 2007, it is reported that school districts were responsible for spending around $5 billion, which was considered to be more than spending of any other local government. They utilized entire amount of local education dollars ...