Local government in Ibagli
Local government in Ibagli exists at several levels. Most services are provided by eight districts and five cities. Varying levels of service are provided by two towns and 47 villages.
Districts
There are eight districts in Ibagli. All of Ibagli was located in a district until 1974, when the five cities were removed from the jurisdiction of their districts and constituted as unitary authorities. Districts have zoning authority, but little power to make any bylaws regulating other conduct. They are responsible for the maintenance of minor roads, parks, and public transport within their jurisdictions. The eight districts are:
Cities
There are five cities in Ibagli. They are permitted to make bylaws in a large number of areas. Each city was separated from its district in 1974, and cities have performed all functions of a district government since then. The five cities are Haphonia, Exeter, Crofton, Fleuve Orange, and Loygre.
Towns
After reforms made by the LeVeque government in 1974, several larger villages petitioned to be given greater regulatory powers. Towns were created in 1977 to allow those villages to regain some of the authority they lost in 1974. Most towns were located in urbanised areas adjacent to cities. Most were consolidated with the cities in 2009, and today only Bolton and St. George remain.
Villages
Until 1974, any group of at least 25 landowners with contiguous property could form a village with powers to make certain local bylaws. While the ability to create new villages was removed in 1974, all villages created by that process continued to exist until 2009, when several villages and towns in urban areas were merged into nearby cities. Villages with populations under 500 had most of their powers removed in 1974. Each village has a council with at least three members, but most of the councils in the smallest villages perform no functions locally and exist as purely ceremonial bodies.
Reform
No major changes were made to local government between 1955 and 1974. The LeVeque government announced plans in 1973 to streamline local government, which were met with protests by most of the villages. The changes would strip villages of most of their authority and remove cities from the authority of districts. Minister of Home Affairs Steven Spell went ahead with the plans despite the controversy, and the resentment caused by the effective abolition of village government was seen as a factor in the defeat of the government in 1976. When the Liberal were returned to government in 1977, Spell was moved to a different portfolio in the cabinet, and the largest villages had many of their powers devolved to them when they became towns.
In 2009, legislation passed by the Conservative government of Sir John Goodwin expanded cities to include nearby villages and cities. The city of Haphonia alone absorbed ten other localities.
In 2011, the Liberal government of Roger Pollack announced that a bill would be introduced to abolish most villages as legal entities, nearly four decades after most of their powers were stripped. In 2012, the provisional legislation was placed before Parliament; all villages will cease to function, and the towns of Bolton and St. George will be set aside as unitary authorities. Additionally, there are provisions for a new unitary authority, either a town or a district, to be created from the area of Middlesex east of Haphonia and north of the M1 Motorway; the area currently contains the villages of Port Severn and Marcaster.