Laserfiche WebLink
12 <br /> <br />Mi;re. Stat. § 412.551, <br />subd. 1 <br /> <br />Minn. Stat. <br />s,tb& 3 <br /> <br />Minn. Stat. § 412.551, <br />subd, 3 <br /> <br />See the League research <br />memo, Charter altd <br />Election Data for <br />Mim~ e$ota Cities (LMC <br />390e.1) <br /> <br />If the city is currently a Plan A city, the question on changing to <br />Plan B cannot occur unless the city has been a Plan A city for at least <br />three years. Additionally, the special election can only address one <br />change in the form of governmentmvoters cannot be given an option <br />of voting for Plan A or Plan B at the same election. <br /> <br />If a majority of the votes cast approve of the adoption of Plan B, <br />the form of government is considered adopted. <br /> <br />A Plan B city may abandon its council-manager form of government <br />and revert to being a standard plan city or change to being a Plan A <br />city. This change must be approved by a majority of the voters and <br />cannot be presented at an election unless the plan has been in <br />existence for a minimum of three years. Likewise, a city can <br />abandon Plan B by choosing to adopt a city charter and become a <br />home rule charter city. <br /> <br />D. Home rule charter cities <br /> <br />Cities with home rule charters have the freedom to design their own <br />form of government. Generally, charter adoptions and amendments <br />must be approved by a majority of voters at an election. Since this <br />process is not within the scope of this document, it will not be <br />described in detail. Contact the League for further information about <br />city charters, <br /> <br />In some cases, a charter city's form of government may be similar <br />to one of the previously discussed forms of city government. There <br />are 107 home rule charter cities in Minnesota. Of these cities, 30 <br />have adopted the council-manager form of government and 77 are <br />mayor-counciI cities. Of the 77 mayor-council cities, approximately <br />73 have weak mayor-councils. Only four of these 77 cities have <br />strong mayor-councils, where the mayor has special powers as an <br />individual to make some decisions. Under this system, the mayor <br />is responsible to the council for the operation of administrative <br />agencies in the city. The four home rule charter Minnesota cities <br />that operate with strong mayor-councils are: <br /> <br />St. Paul <br /> <br />Duluth <br /> <br />St. Cloud <br /> <br />Northfield <br /> <br />Cities with home rule charters should check their city charters for <br />details regarding their local governments. <br /> <br />Leabme of Minnesota Cities <br /> <br />-58- <br /> <br /> <br />