A village is an administrative division and type of incorporated municipality in Michigan. Villages possess home rule powers but differ from cities in that they are completely autonomous. When communities incorporate as Villages, they remain part of the township—or multiple townships—from which they were formed. Administrative oversight for the village residents is shared with the township. As a result, residents pay taxes to both the village and the township and are able to vote in elections for both administrative divisions. In some instances, a village or township may be coterminous. In 2008, the state government began looking at ways of eliminating completely coterminous townships to streamline government function.
Villages in Michigan do not have population caps before they must reincorporate as a city. As a result, some villages are larger than some of the smaller cities.
There are two types of governmental organization for villages: Home rule village and General law village. As of 2007, there are 259 villages in Michigan, of which 48 are designated home rule villages, and 211 designated as general law villages.[1] However, under the Michigan Constitution of 1963, any village has the authority to modify its charter, whether granted as a home rule charter or enacted as a general law charter.[2]
Notes and references
- ↑ Michigan Municipal League
- ↑ Michigan Constitution of 1963, Article VII, § 22, Effective Jan. 1, 1964. Accessed 2007-05-15.