Council-manager government is a municipal structure that splits local authority in two: an elected council sets policy, passes ordinances, and approves the budget, while a professional city manager hired by that council runs daily operations, supervises departments, and manages the workforce. Roughly 59 percent of surveyed U.S. cities use this form, making it the most common municipal government structure in the country. The council functions something like a board of directors; the manager operates as a chief executive answerable to that board. The person with the most operational power in city hall never appears on a ballot.
How the Split Between Policy and Administration Works
The defining feature is a hard line between deciding what the city should do and figuring out how to do it. The council decides. It passes ordinances, sets tax rates, approves the annual budget, and establishes service priorities. The manager executes. Departments are staffed, contracts are negotiated, budgets are drafted, and services are delivered under the manager’s direction.
Neither side is supposed to cross that line. A council member who tries to direct an individual employee or steer a specific hire undercuts the whole point of the structure. A manager who tries to shape political outcomes rather than implement the council’s directives does the same damage from the other direction.
This is what distinguishes the model from a strong-mayor system. In a mayor-council city, one elected person can hire department heads, propose the budget, and veto legislation. In a council-manager city, no single person holds all of that power. The council votes as a body. The manager serves at the council’s pleasure. When it works, political maneuvering stays out of garbage routes and infrastructure contracts. When it breaks down, the usual causes are a council that can’t agree on what it wants or a manager who starts behaving like a politician.
What the Elected Council Does
The council is the legislative body. It passes local laws, adopts the annual budget, sets property tax rates, and establishes fees for services like water, sewer, and building permits. Council members hold public hearings, represent their constituents, and translate community priorities into formal policy.
Its single most consequential decision is choosing the city manager. That hire determines who controls every department, every employee, and every dollar of operational spending. The council also holds the power to fire the manager, and that authority is what keeps the relationship accountable. If a majority loses confidence in the manager’s performance, they can terminate the appointment. Most charters require only a council vote to do so, though employment agreements typically govern the financial terms of departure.
Council sizes vary. The national average is around six members. Some cities elect council members from geographic districts, others at-large across the whole city, and many blend the two. Terms usually run two to four years and are staggered so the entire council doesn’t turn over at once. The specific rules live in each city’s charter.
What the City Manager Does
The city manager runs the organization. That means directing every department, from public works and parks to police and fire, and keeping operations aligned with the council’s direction. The manager hires, supervises, and can terminate city employees, subject to any local civil service or personnel rules. Department heads report to the manager rather than to individual council members, which is what insulates staffing from political pressure.
Budget preparation is one of the manager’s most important responsibilities. Each year the manager assembles a proposed budget that projects revenues, outlines spending across departments, and identifies capital needs. The council reviews, amends, and approves it, but the manager’s draft sets the framework. The manager is also responsible for keeping the council informed about the city’s financial condition throughout the year.
Purchasing and Contract Authority
City charters and local ordinances typically give the manager authority to approve routine purchases up to a set dollar threshold without going back to the council for each transaction. Above that threshold, competitive bidding applies and larger contracts require council approval. The dollar limits vary widely from one city to the next, but the principle is consistent: smaller operational purchases move through the manager’s office efficiently, and significant spending stays with the elected body. Most charters also prohibit splitting purchases into smaller amounts to dodge the bidding requirement.
Emergency Authority
When a disaster or public safety crisis hits, someone needs authority to act faster than a council can convene. Many charters designate either the mayor or the manager, or both depending on availability, to declare a local state of emergency. That declaration can unlock powers like imposing curfews, restricting access to damaged areas, and redirecting city resources. The scope and duration depend on the charter and applicable state law, and the council retains the ability to terminate emergency orders. Emergencies are the one area where the clean policy-versus-administration divide gets blurry by necessity.
What the Mayor Does in a Council-Manager City
If you’re used to thinking of a mayor as the most powerful person in city hall, the council-manager version of the role will surprise you. The mayor presides over council meetings and represents the city at ribbon cuttings, intergovernmental meetings, and community events. The mayor votes as a member of the council, usually with the same weight as any other member.
What the mayor typically cannot do is veto ordinances, unilaterally hire or fire department heads, or direct city staff. Some charters grant limited procedural powers, like influencing the meeting agenda or making committee assignments, but the administrative machinery runs through the manager. In some cities, the mayor is elected directly by voters. In others, the council selects a mayor from among its own members on a rotating basis. Either way, the position provides visible leadership without concentrating executive power in one elected official.
The Political Neutrality Rule
The entire model depends on the city manager staying out of politics. If a manager starts picking sides in council elections, the professional credibility that justifies the position evaporates. The International City/County Management Association codifies this expectation in a twelve-tenet Code of Ethics that has governed the profession since 1924.1ICMA. ICMA Code of Ethics
Tenet 7 states the core prohibition: members must refrain from all political activities that undermine public confidence in professional administrators and must not participate in elections for the governing body they serve.1ICMA. ICMA Code of Ethics In practice, that means no endorsing candidates, no contributing to campaigns, no signing petitions for or against people running for office, and no fundraising. Managers can vote, and they can present factual information to the public on ballot measures like bond issues or annexations. The line between informing and advocating is one every experienced manager watches carefully.2ICMA. Political Activity
Running for elected office while serving as a manager is also prohibited under ICMA standards. A manager who wants to enter politics must leave the profession first.2ICMA. Political Activity The ICMA Committee on Professional Conduct can investigate complaints and recommend sanctions up to permanent expulsion from membership and credential revocation.3ICMA. ICMA Rules of Procedure for Enforcement of the Code of Ethics
How Managers Are Paid and Protected
Because managers serve at the council’s pleasure, job security depends heavily on the employment contract. ICMA’s model employment agreement recommends severance of six to twelve months of salary if the manager is terminated without cause, along with roughly six months of continued benefits. ICMA survey data shows the actual average severance sits at about six months.4ICMA. Ethics Matter: Negotiating Employment Agreements and Compensation
Most contracts are structured as evergreen agreements that remain in effect until either the council terminates the manager or the manager resigns, rather than expiring on a fixed date. The model agreement also includes a notable protection: refusing to comply with a directive that violates the ICMA Code of Ethics cannot be treated as grounds for termination.4ICMA. Ethics Matter: Negotiating Employment Agreements and Compensation
Compensation varies enormously by city size, cost of living, and the scope of services the manager oversees. Bureau of Labor Statistics data puts the mean annual wage for chief executives in local government at approximately $156,620, though that figure blends city managers with other local executive roles.5Bureau of Labor Statistics. Chief Executives – Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Managers of large, full-service cities with populations over 100,000 routinely earn well above $200,000. Managers of small towns may earn under $100,000.
The Charter as the Legal Foundation
The charter is the document that makes the whole structure legally binding. It’s essentially a city’s constitution. It creates the council-manager framework, defines the powers and limits of each office, sets term lengths, establishes how the manager is hired and fired, and lays out procedural requirements for passing ordinances, holding public hearings, and amending the charter itself.
A city’s authority to adopt a charter comes from the state. Forty-four states provide some form of home rule authority to their municipalities, either through constitutional provisions or legislative grants. In most home rule states, cities can draft and adopt their own charters through a local vote without needing case-by-case legislative approval. The remaining states retain more direct control over municipal structure, and cities there operate under general municipal corporation laws or special legislative charters rather than locally drafted documents.
How a City Adopts or Leaves This Form of Government
Switching to a council-manager form, or away from one, usually requires a public vote. The two most common paths are a direct citizen petition that puts the question on the ballot and a charter study commission that researches options and makes a recommendation.
Petition thresholds vary. Signatures from somewhere between 8 and 25 percent of registered voters, or of voters who participated in a recent election, are common. Once signatures are verified, the proposal goes to a referendum. Some states require a simple majority for approval. Others impose higher thresholds, such as requiring that affirmative votes equal a minimum percentage of the prior election’s turnout. Defeated proposals typically trigger a waiting period of two to four years before a new petition can be filed.
Charter study commissions offer a more deliberative route. Voters elect a small group of commissioners, usually five, who spend several months studying governance options and produce a report with recommendations. If the commission recommends a change, the question goes to a referendum. This gives the community time to evaluate trade-offs rather than voting on a petition that may have had limited public input.
Cities that have already adopted a council-manager charter usually must complete a trial period of three to five years before they can vote to abandon it. Amending an existing charter, whether to change council district boundaries, adjust the manager’s powers, or modify election procedures, follows a similar petition-and-referendum process in most jurisdictions.