STATES EMPOWER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
The intergovernmental authority relationship between
state and local governments is first defined as that of
superordinate and subsidiary. This is often poetically
stated as ‘‘local governments are the creatures of the
states.’’ This formal structure of power, also called
Dillon’s rule, is that local governments can be created
or abolished by the state, and so they are subject to
limits imposed by the state. States enable local government
actions, including budgeting, spending, taxing,
and borrowing. Local governments may exercise only
those powers expressly granted by the state constitution
or by state statutes. There is no common law right of
local self-government, and local government powers to
tax and spend are subject to state constraints.
In practice, states empower local governments
through broad grants of powers; the specific type and
manner of public activities undertaken are determined
by local governments. The independent authority of
local governments has been asserted through the use
of municipal or county home rule charters, but this
autonomy is limited. Some local government powers
remain subject to preemption by the state. Quite often,
even with home rule, states impose limits on local fiscal
actions.
Although the hierarchical powers and derived
authority description of local governments as being
subsidiary and subservient to the states, the relationship
between the state and local governments regarding
budgets supervision is quite varied in practice.
The manner that supervision takes is through intergovernmental
techniques. State statutory authority of
intergovernmental control is described in six major
categories: 1) forms of government and home rule; 2)
altering boundaries and responsibilities; 3) local elections;
4) administrative operations and management; 5)
financial management; and 6) personnel management.
Commonly, supervision is defined as ‘‘directing the
work or actions of another.’’ The typical supervisory
relationship is a manager and worker in an organization.
This simple model of supervision within a
hierarchical organization with centralized authority
is, however, not consistent with American intergovernmental
practices. In practice, state legislative and
administrative review, oversight, and regulation of
local governments are complex. States and local governments
take cooperative, coordinated actions. State
authority is often felt indirectly, rather than exerted
directly. In practice, states and local governments work