Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Florencia Ucha, in Mar. 2010
A minor administrative entity of a state that can occupy a locality or more than one
It is designated with the term of municipality to that minor administrative entity that groups a single locality or several of a state.
Composition, elements and authorities of the municipality
The municipality is made up of a territory with fixed limits and the population that inhabits it. The municipalities are governed and regulated by a collegiate body that, according to the place on the planet where it is located, can be called a town hall, mayor's office, council or municipality and are headed by an authority, generally popularly elected through suffrage known as mayor, head of government, among the alternative names more common.
In Argentina, a few years ago, the person who headed this type of entity was called mayor, in Therefore, nowadays, he is known as the Head of the Buenos Aires Government, in the case of the municipality of the city of Buenos Aires. For their part, Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia, to this same position, call him mayor.
The word has a Latin origin, from municipium, as the Romans called those independent entities, with legal personality own, own laws and own patrimony. They are born from the practice of the Romans to subdue those peoples they conquered. Thus they maintained the internal organization of the cities with a double administrative command, those corresponding to Rome and those of a local nature.
At present, and as we noted above, the municipalities are small territorial divisions of an administrative order that can encompass one or several localities and that are mainly based on neighborhood relations, with the pertinent division of powers and a executive power one-man.
The municipalities are made up of four elements: territory, population, political authorities and common good objectives that share.
It is also called a municipality to the physical place where municipal functions are carried out and also reside governing bodies, which are almost always located in front of the town's main square in question.
On the other hand, in European countries such as Italy, France and Sweden this type of entity is popularly known as communes, which comes from the joint reference of customary rights of a given place.
And on the Latin American side, just as there are variants in terms of the denomination there are in terms of the responsibilities they hold... in Colombia they have fiscal, administrative and politics and its main task is to ensure the well-being and the best quality of life for the inhabitants.
And in the case of Argentina, more precisely in the province of Buenos Aires, each municipality coincides with a party.
As we explained, municipalities have already existed since Ancient Rome as legal persons that were given the possibility of having their own patrimony. Meanwhile, the current municipality, as we know it today, arises in the Middle Ages as intermediate social, political and administrative group, preserving its autonomy and with a protection from the Constitution.
Respond to the demands of neighbors
The primary function assigned to them today is to attend to the needs of the neighbors that make them up. The municipal chiefs have, or should endeavor to ensure that this is the case, a closer contact, almost interpersonal, with the citizens who inhabit the municipality that he directs and this of course will influence that the demands are channeled effectively and of course all reach a positive resolution.
As administrative and political leaders, it will be their turn to provide the neighbors with essential basic services such as cleaning. of the streets, the collection of waste, public lighting, the care of the green spaces, which includes the pruning of trees, the opening and maintenance of public roads, clubs, cemeteries, cultural centers, spaces for recreation, among others.
The financing To manage the aforementioned services, they obtain it from the municipal taxes or fees that citizens must pay. Depending on the country and the legislation In force, it can be monthly or bimonthly and the value is also greatly influenced by the area of the municipality in which the neighbor's home is located, that is, if the neighbor lives in a neighborhood that has a higher real estate quotation and valuation, he will have to pay more than the municipal tax, while in the opposite case it will be a lot less.
Topics in Municipality