Municipal services

Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect to the city government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), water, streets, the public library, schools, food inspection, fire department, police, ambulance, and other health department issues and transportation. City governments often operate or contract for additional utilities like electricity, gas and cable television. Mumbai even provides a lighthouse service. The available municipal services for any individual municipality will depend on location, history, geography, statutes and tradition. Provided services may vary from country to country or even within a country. Services may be run directly by a department of the municipality or be sub-contracted to a third party. Funding for the services provided varies with the municipality in question. Funding can include tax revenue (property tax, income tax, municipal sales tax), fees (such as building permits), Grants from other Governments, fines such as speeding or parking violations, usage fees for optional services, or other sources such as profits from municipally owned or operated utilities. Probably the greatest influence is the country in which the municipality is located. In the UK, a combination of local taxation based on property value and central government grants is the main means of funding core services. This is supplemented by nominal fees for services provided (e.g. leisure facilities). For some services, a competitive fee is charged compared to commercial concerns that which allows a profit to be made. For other services, full commercial rates may be charged with municipally owned utilities or commercial property, for example. For the most part, services will be part subsidized by the municipality or fully subsidized by the municipality. In recent years, UK councils have been given some leeway in finding alternative funding which can be the simple sponsorship of flower baskets to the trading of surplus buildings and land for services from private firms.