Deck 10: Local Government

Question 1

As the number of urban areas grew in the state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the management of local affairs became such a growing burden on the state legislature that it passed the

A) general-law city charter.
B) city charter.
C) home-rule charter.
D) county charter.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The chief law-enforcement officer in county governments is the

A) sheriff.
B) constable.
C) justice of the peace.
D) city police chief.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

If you want to know how many people serve on a city's governing body, which document do you need to consult?

A) the city's administrative code
B) the city's organizational chart on file with the commissioners' court
C) the city's articles of incorporation
D) the city's home-rule charter

Answer 3

D

Question 4

What is a key problem with counties in Texas?

A) Many of them are too small and underpopulated to function well.
B) County laws were made in the twentieth century, making them too old-fashioned.
C) There is a lack of diversity when it comes to counties.
D) Too often the county seats cannot be reached in a day's drive.

Question 5

Why are Texas counties important?

A) They create and regulate cities.
B) They act as legislative bodies, making most of the local laws.
C) They provide the main form of government in rural areas.
D) They have very broad governmental powers.

Question 6

One of the most important social services provided by counties is

A) indigent health care.
B) indigent defense.
C) animal control.
D) sanitation.

Question 7

What is the composition of the county commissioner's court?

A) five county commissioners, with one member appointed county judge
B) a three-judge panel and four county commissioners
C) a district clerk and four county commissioners
D) a county judge and four county commissioners

Question 8

In large Texas counties, the ________ prepares the county budget.

A) sheriff
B) constable
C) auditor
D) clerk

Question 9

The law enforcement budget at the county level is approved by the

A) constable.
B) sheriff.
C) county judge.
D) county commissioners' court.

Question 10

In Texas, what is the name of the officer who presides over the county commissioners' court?

A) county judge
B) executive commissioner
C) justice of the peace
D) sheriff

Question 11

In the case Avery v. Midland County, the U.S. Supreme Court held that

A) special purpose districts had to be approved by voters.
B) educational spending levels had to be roughly the same throughout the state.
C) the principle of "one person, one vote" applied to county commissioners' courts.
D) the practice of hanging was in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

Question 12

The unit of government known as "municipality" or "ayuntamiento" during the period of Spanish and Mexican rule in Texas serves as the foundation for ________________ today.

A) cities
B) counties
C) special purpose districts
D) unincorporated rural areas

Question 13

Who is responsible for setting the county's budget and tax rate?

A) county auditor
B) county tax assessor-collector
C) county treasurer
D) commissioners' court

Question 14

Who is responsible for issuing marriage licenses as well as birth and death certificates?

A) district clerk
B) county clerk
C) county auditor
D) Secretary of State

Question 15

The job of serving civil court papers at the county level goes to the

A) constable.
B) sheriff.
C) assistant district attorney.
D) district judge.

Question 16

Which of the following is a source of often unanticipated costs faced by county governments?

A) the expense of city police salaries
B) the financial burden of capital murder trials
C) the spiraling costs of public education
D) the growing number of constables being employed at the county level

Question 17

In smaller counties, the sheriff performs which of the following jobs?

A) the justice of the peace.
B) the tax assessor/collector.
C) the constable and court officer.
D) the medical examiner.

Question 18

In Texas, county governments are responsible for which of the following tasks?

A) administration of social services
B) administration of school districts
C) administration of water districts
D) administration of ordinances and regulations

Question 19

What is the most important expenditure of most county commissioners' courts?

A) roads and bridges
B) building and maintaining county hospitals
C) water
D) law enforcement

Question 20

Who collects the taxes owed to the county?

A) county tax assessor-collector
B) county clerk
C) county treasurer
D) county auditor

Question 21

What was the effect of Dallas shifting from an at-large to a single-member district system in 1991?

A) The change was responsible for the election of a significant number of African American and Hispanic council members.
B) The city lost its status as a home-rule city for five years.
C) At-large districts benefited the local Democratic Party.
D) It was challenged in court but found to be constitutional by the Texas Supreme Court.

Question 22

Which of the following cities currently has a city government with a strong mayor-council form of government?

A) Dallas
B) San Antonio
C) Austin
D) Houston

Question 23

Which city governments have officials who act as both executives and legislators?

A) strong-mayor councils
B) mayor-councils
C) commissioners
D) weak-mayor councils

Question 24

What is the level of popularity of the commissioner system of city government in Texas today?

A) It is the most popular form of city government in Texas.
B) No city in Texas today has a pure commissioner system, but a handful claim a variation of the system.
C) While less popular than the mayor-council system, the commissioner system is used by more than 100 cities in Texas today.
D) Commissioner systems have never been used in Texas.

Question 25

The commissioner form of city government was developed as a response to the

A) end of Reconstruction in 1876.
B) hurricane at Galveston in 1900.
C) Great Depression of 1929.
D) discovery of oil in 1901.

Question 26

In most Texas cities that use the council-manager form of government today,

A) there is a professional city manager, a mayor that is elected at large, and a city council that is elected by single-member districts.
B) there is a professional city manager and a city council, but no mayor.
C) there is a professional city manager, a mayor that is appointed by the city council, and a volunteer city council.
D) there is a city manager that is elected at large, a mayor that is elected at large, and a city council that is elected by single member districts.

Question 27

Dallas operates under which style of city government?

A) mayor-council
B) council-manager
C) commissioner
D) council-mayor

Question 28

In a strong-mayor council form of government, who controls the legislative agenda of the city council?

A) the mayor
B) the city manager
C) the city council
D) the city administrator

Question 29

Commissioner forms of government were at the height of their popularity

A) in 1882, at the height of the Grange movement.
B) in 1918, during the Progressive era.
C) in 1936, during the New Deal.
D) in 1978, as a result of the economic recession.

Question 30

San Antonio operates under which style of city government?

A) mayor-council
B) council-manager
C) commissioner
D) council-mayor

Question 31

According to the Dillon Rule doctrine,

A) general-law cities and towns are much more constrained than home-rule cities, and cannot take any action unless explicitly authorized by a law passed by the state.
B) city council members elected in single member districts must live in the district that they represent.
C) in a weak-mayor system, the mayor does not have a vote at city council meetings.
D) home-rule cities must publish all proposed ordinances and regulations at least 90 days before they go into effect.

Question 32

The chief financial officer for a city is called the

A) city controller.
B) sheriff.
C) mayor.
D) city manager.

Question 33

A ________ form of government is one in which public policies are developed by the city council and executive and administrative functions are assigned to a professional city manager.

A) commissioner
B) council manager
C) council mayor
D) mayor-city manager

Question 34

What is the main difference between a home-rule city and a general-law city?

A) A general-law city does not have a mayor.
B) A general-law city is chartered for localities with a population of fewer than 5,000 persons.
C) A general-law city is the name for all cities incorporated after 1901.
D) A general-law city has no power to set the property tax.

Question 35

Across the United States, which form of government for cities with over 10,000 residents has been the most popular?

A) commissioner
B) county judge-mayor
C) council mayor
D) council manager

Question 36

The debate over preemption between local self-governance and control by the state government echoes which of the following:

A) debates between the state governments and the federal government about which level of government should make governing decisions
B) debates between the counties and the cities about who is responsible for road maintenance
C) debates between home-rule cities and general-law cities about property rates and school funding
D) debates between home-rule cities and unincorporated areas about annexation policies

Question 37

In the commissioner form of government,

A) the elected city council performs the legislative functions, and also appoints a commissioner to perform the executive functions.
B) The elected mayor shares executive power with the appointed commissioner, while the city council has legislative power.
C) the legislative and executive functions are performed by the elected commission.
D) the elected commission has legislative power, while the elected mayor has executive power.

Question 38

The weak-mayor form of government is similar to the __________________ because they both ________________.

A) plural executive; divide power among multiple people who can present the positions of their constituencies
B) commissioner form of government; have one person who is designated as "mayor," but neither is elected to that position
C) strong-mayor form of government; rely on a professional city manager to run the city
D) council-manager from of government; exist in only in general-law cities

Question 39

What is an at-large election?

A) an election for offices that receive no official salary
B) an election in which voters elect officials from the entire geographical area rather than from a smaller district within the area
C) an election held under the commission system of city government
D) an election in which one or more candidates are under criminal indictment

Question 40

The mayor-council form of government is most common in

A) smaller general-law cities.
B) large metropolitan cities.
C) newer, high-growth "exurbs."
D) northern Texas cities.

Question 41

One goal of the deferred retirement option plan (DROP) was to

A) keep Dallas police officers and firefighters working on the job instead of retiring and collecting their pension after 20 years of service.
B) allow state employees to privately invest their retirement savings rather than pay into a state-run pension account.
C) allow firefighters and police officers in the large cities to delay retirement to 30 years of service, but receive a bigger pension.
D) encourage teachers to work for more than 20 years to receive a larger pension from the state.

Question 42

Flood control is managed through special purpose districts because

A) flooding is seldom contained to a single city or county.
B) the Texas Constitution forbids both cities and the state from spending money on flood prevention.
C) the Galveston hurricane of 1900 revealed the inefficiency and slowness of state government in responding to local disasters.
D) most cities do not have the infrastructure to handle large flooding.

Question 43

How are most special purpose districts in Texas administered?

A) County judges administer all special purpose districts within their jurisdiction.
B) They are run by a board elected by residents within the district.
C) For each special purpose district, the governor appoints members to a review board.
D) They are run by special purpose district administrators who answer directly to the state
Legislature.

Question 44

A school district is

A) a special purpose district.
B) administered by the county commissioners' court.
C) ruled by the federal government in Washington, D.C.
D) established by each incorporated city.

Question 45

In Texas, ________ create(s) special purpose districts.

A) the Texas legislature
B) the governor
C) Texas voters in the areas that will be covered
D) the county commissioners' court, with local voter approval

Question 46

The county commissioners' court has original jurisdiction for cases involving violation of county laws.

Question 47

Cities and towns in Texas often see rapid population growth. Such growth requires school districts to quickly expand. In this type of situation, school districts use __________________ to borrow the necessary funds to achieve this goal.

A) capital appreciation bonds (CABs)
B) general obligation bonds (GABs)
C) revenue anticipation notes (RANs)
D) capital investment bonds (CIBs)

Question 48

Community college districts and fire-prevention districts are examples of

A) non-school special purpose districts.
B) essential service districts.
C) municipal service districts.
D) special service districts..

Question 49

What is the main difference between a special purpose district and a county?

A) A special purpose district provides only one specific service within a geographic region.
B) A county is formed in terms of population density, while a special purpose district is created geographically.
C) Special purpose districts are controlled by incorporated cities, unlike county government.
D) Special purpose districts are created by municipalities, while counties are created by the state.

Question 50

What are the main sources of revenue for special purpose districts in Texas?

A) property taxes and user fees
B) income taxes and user fees
C) income taxes and sales taxes
D) sales taxes and property taxes

Question 51

County governments are most important for administering rural areas throughout Texas.

Question 52

What type of government is called hidden government because people often do NOT know it exists?

A) county government
B) special purpose districts
C) city government
D) state government

Question 53

Which of the following is the most common form of local government in Texas?

A) county government
B) municipal government
C) special purpose districts
D) city government

Question 54

Special purpose districts in Texas are

A) democratic in theory but often not in practice.
B) created and administered by county clerks.
C) the best example of participatory democracy in Texas because of high voter participation.
D) a less common form of government than they were 50 years ago.

Question 55

If you live outside city limits, water, sewer, sanitation, and electricity services are offered by

A) county utility districts (CUDs).
B) municipal utility districts (MUDs).
C) auxiliary utility districts (AUDs).
D) special utility districts (SUDs).

Question 56

Employee pensions are an issue for all levels of government in Texas. Which of the following is a change that has been recently implemented as a way to make pension plans more economically sound?

A) decreased years of service required
B) privatized accounts
C) reduced employee contribution
D) increased retirement age

Question 57

________ is a unit of government that performs a single service in a limited geographic area.

A) A special purpose district
B) The county government
C) The local government
D) A single-member district

Question 58

Since each county in Texas is required under the one person, one vote doctrine to have approximately the same number of residents, county lines must be redrawn every ten years as part of the redistricting process after the census.

Question 59

What is the function of the twenty-four councils of government in Texas today?

A) They are a board that establishes new special purpose districts when needed.
B) They are a regional board meant to coordinate local planning and economic development.
C) They are a tax board meant to establish local property tax rates.
D) They are an administrative board that runs utility districts in rural areas.

Question 60

Special purpose districts were initially designed to help develop poor and rural areas of Texas. However, many people are now concerned that the system is being abused because

A) state investigations discovered numerous "phantom districts" that do not provide any tangible services, yet still bill local counties for administrative costs.
B) real estate developers have figured out a way to develop the infrastructure for new developments but pass the costs on to future owners of the property.
C) the special purpose districts for homeland security throughout Texas were uncoordinated and ill-prepared for September 11, 2001.
D) there is a lack of coordination and cooperation between agencies responsible for dealing with natural disasters such as fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes.

Question 61

There is no single way to run a city in Texas. Compare and contrast the governments of Texas cities.

Question 62

The chief executive officer of each county in Texas is the sheriff.

Question 63

Analyze the importance of county government in Texas. What are the main governmental tasks of counties? How are counties organized, and how is authority distributed?

Question 64

All large cities in Texas have structures of government that give strong executive powers to the mayor.

Question 65

Different types of city government create different political opportunities and problems. Using the different city government types, describe the particular political environments of Texas's four largest cities.

Question 66

Describe the types, functions, and challenges of special purpose districts in Texas. Who creates them? How are they created? What is their role?

Question 67

District attorneys prosecute the less serious criminal cases in the district courts, whereas county attorneys prosecute the more serious criminal cases in the county courts.

Question 68

Community colleges in Texas are allotted their own special purpose districts.

Question 69

One of the problems with Texas government is that there are no regional councils that promote coordinated planning across local governments.

Question 70

All cities in Texas with pension funds have sufficient funding to meet their obligations to be able to pay retirees.

Question 71

Constables are appointed by the county sheriff.

Question 72

In Texas, special purpose districts are run by a board of trustees appointed by the governor.

Question 73

How do counties in Texas differ from cities in their powers, duties, and responsibilities, and which do you think has more advantages?

Question 74

General-law cities have more autonomy from the state than home-rule charter cities.

Question 75

San Antonio and Dallas both have council-manager forms of government.

Question 76

The primary sources of funding for special purpose districts are property taxes and user fees.

Question 77

In home-rule cities the constitution sets a maximum property tax rate of $1.50 per $100 valuation.

Question 78

One problem with special purpose districts is that sometimes local government officials work in relative obscurity, avoiding media and public scrutiny.

Question 79

Commissioner governments are designed to run school districts and other special purpose districts throughout the state.

Question 80

Cities are primarily responsible for providing indigent health care.