Borough (United States)
A borough in some U.S. states is a unit of local government or other administrative division below the level of the state. The term is currently used in six states:
- A type of municipality: Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania (also formerly Michigan and Minnesota)
- A subdivision of a consolidated city, corresponding to another present or previous political subdivision: New York and Virginia
- In county-equivalent.
Specific states
Alaska
In Alaska, the word "borough" is used instead of "county". Like counties, boroughs are administrative divisions of the state.
Each borough in Alaska has a
Nearly half of the state's area is part of the vast
Connecticut
In addition to cities, Connecticut also has another type of dependent municipality known as a borough. Boroughs are usually the populated center of a town that decided to incorporate in order to have more responsive local government. When a borough is formed, it is still part of and dependent on its town. There are nine boroughs in Connecticut. One borough, Naugatuck, is coextensive and consolidated with its town. The other eight boroughs, such as Woodmont, have jurisdiction over only a part of their town. Boroughs in Connecticut are counted as separate municipal governments, but governmental functions performed in other parts of the state by town governments are performed by the parent town of the borough.[1]
Michigan
In
Minnesota
In Minnesota, "borough" was applied to one municipality, Belle Plaine, from 1868 to 1974.[4]
New Jersey
In New Jersey, boroughs are independent municipalities and are one of five types of municipal government, each operating separately at the equivalent level of the other four types of municipal government available in New Jersey: Township, Town, City, and Village. Many boroughs were formed out of larger townships, but even in such cases there is no continuing link between the borough and the township. Most boroughs were formed during the Boroughitis phenomenon of the mid-1890s.
New York
New York City does not have a city-wide
Boroughs do not exist in any other part of the
Pennsylvania
In Pennsylvania's state laws that govern classes of municipalities, the term "borough" is used the way other states sometimes use the words "town" or "village." A borough is a self-governing entity that is generally smaller than a city. If an area is not governed by either a borough or city, then the area is governed as a township. Villages or hamlets are unincorporated and have no municipal government, other than the township in which they are found. By tradition, as recognized by publications of the state government, the only incorporated town in Pennsylvania is Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania[5][6][7] In August 2005, there were 961 boroughs in the state.[8]
Virginia
In
Wisconsin
Wisconsin in the 19th century occasionally used the term "borough" for the type of civil township normally known as a town.[citation needed]
References
- ^ 2002 Census of Governments, Individual State Descriptions (PDF)
- ^ Lien, Cathryn (July 14, 2017). "City of Mackinac Island Reaches 200th Anniversary". Mackinac Island Town Crier. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- ^ Lien, Cathryn (July 14, 2017). "A History of the Borough of Michilimackinac, City of Mackinac". Mackinac Island Town Crier. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
- ^ ""Belle Plaine Trivia," City of Belle Plaine". Archived from the original on 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
- The Pennsylvania Manual 117
- ^ Pennsylvania Local Government Fact Sheet, 2005 Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Local Government Entities in Pennsylvania" and "Municipal Statistics" in Legislator's Municipal Deskbook for Pennsylvania Archived December 11, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pennsylvania Legislator's Municipal Deskbook, Third Edition (2006) (PDF)
- ^ Code of Virginia § 15.2-3534
- ^ Comprehensive Annual Financial Report of the City of Chesapeake, Virginia for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2005 Archived February 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (PDF)
- ^ City of Virginia Beach Development Services Center, DSC INFORMATION NOTICE #63 - Correction May 15, 1998 Archived November 3, 2004, at the Wayback Machine (PDF)