1. The First Five December 1, 2014
Agenda Message: Unit 5 CDA on Friday = STUDY! Today’s Warm-up: What type of services does Douglas County and the cities of Douglasville provide to you each week?

2. Georgia’s Local Governments
County Governments
City Governments

3. Unit 5: Local Government
Georgia Performance Standards:
SS8CG5: The student will analyze the role of local governments in the state of Georgia.
Refer to pages in the Georgia: In the American Experience textbook

4. Local Government
Many of the day-to-day services that you use are provided by local government.
Examples: Police and Fire Departments, roads, road signs, and traffic lights
Local government focuses on the needs of the citizens, and their services are based on available funds (taxes).
Voters elect the officials who run county and city governments.

5. County Government
The county that you live in has a county seat (oldest city in the county), which has government offices and courts located there.
Most money that county governments need in order to operate come from:
Funds from the federal government & Georgia state government
Taxes & fees from local residents
A. Property Taxes: Taxes paid on the value of
land and buildings owned by people.
B. Sales Taxes: Taxes paid on purchases & services
C. Special Purpose Taxes: Taxes that pay for special projects
(build new schools, jails, road, etc.)
D. Fees: Fines & penalties, licenses, and permits
County commissioners set the policies and ordinances (laws/rules) in counties.

6. City Government
Cities in Georgia have one of three forms of government:
Weak Mayor-Council: The elected city council has more power than the mayor.
Strong Mayor-Council: The elected mayor is the city’s chief executive officer and is responsible for seeing that they city’s laws are carried out and each departments do their jobs.
Council-Manager: A city manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city.
The elected officials balance the needs of the city’s residents against the money available. They work to provide as many services as possible to the residents.

7. Answer the Skill Builder Interpreting Charts questions 1-2 on page 506.

8. The First Five December 2, 2014
Agenda Message: Study for Unit 5 CDA on Friday
Today’s Warm-up:
The purpose of the Georgia constitution is to…
Protect and benefit all the people of Georgia.
Make laws, enforce laws, and collect revenue for Georgia’s citizens.
Administer those rights assigned to the states by the U.S. Constitution.
Ensure freedom, liberty, justice, peace, and happiness for all the citizens of Georgia. D

9. The First Five December 3, 2014
Agenda Message: Study for Unit 5 CDA on Friday
Today’s Warm-up:
What financial responsibility does a citizen have toward the government?
Paying taxes
Paying debts
Buying on credit
Making political contributions A

10. The First Five December 4, 2014
Agenda Message: Study for tomorrow’s Unit 5 CDA Today’s Warm-up: Members of the Georgia General Assembly are elected for a _____ year term of office. A. Two B. Four C. Six D. Eight A

11. Top 5 List
You are to make a list of the most important facts that you have learned about in Unit 5 State & Local Government. Rank the facts in order based on #1 being the MOST important.

12. The First Five December 5, 2014
Agenda Message: No homework tonight Today’s Warm-up: Study for 5 minutes. You may use your class notes and graded work to study!