How cities are formed
No one sat down and invented city government. It grew, one practical problem at a time, out of people living and trading close together. The story below is every Texas town's story — including ours.
From a shade tree to a city charter
Most cities started very simply. In most instances it was a crossroads with a convenient shade tree where farmers and traders would meet to exchange goods. At some point, an enterprising person would set up a saloon to profit from the gatherings. Then a general store and a blacksmith would appear — and houses for the people who worked there.
With a saloon comes the need for a town marshal. An informal group of businessmen would gather to fund one. A sheriff might be needed to patrol the countryside and ward off bandits raiding supply wagons and stagecoaches. That needs funding too. The first informal tax is created.
Closely bunched wood buildings create a risk of fire. Bucket brigades only work so well, so funding is needed for a pump truck. A volunteer firefighting effort forms, and becomes more formal later. More funding.
As the town grows, sewage becomes an issue — and so does fresh water. Dirt-packed streets become unmanageable with increased traffic, so there's a need for paving and some sort of stormwater drainage.
Each step creates an increasingly formal governmental structure, until the area decides to incorporate as a city with defined boundaries and adopt a city charter. Notice what drove every step: not ideology, not politics — practical problems that neighbors could only solve together.
What is a city, really?
Simply put, cities are areas that promote exchange:
- Exchange of goods
- Exchange of services
- Exchange of culture
- Exchange of religion
- Exchange of ideas
- Exchange of money
Think of the farmer who brings his produce into town for sale. He uses the proceeds at the general store to buy the things he doesn't produce, or can't produce efficiently. He comes to town for church and community meetings. The farmer and his preacher — who lives in town — both use the local bank.
Everything a city government does, at bottom, is in service of that exchange: safe streets to trade on, clean water to live on, and rules everyone can count on.
Incorporation: when a town becomes a city
In Texas, a city doesn't exist until the people who live there create it. Residents of an area vote to incorporate — to draw boundaries and form a municipal government with legal powers. Texas then recognizes two basic kinds of cities:
General law cities
Most Texas cities, especially smaller ones, are "general law" cities. They can only do what state statutes specifically authorize them to do. The legislature in Austin writes their rulebook.
Home rule cities
Once a city passes 5,000 in population, its voters can adopt a home rule charter — a local constitution. A home rule city can do anything its charter and voters allow, so long as it doesn't conflict with the Texas Constitution or state law. The rulebook is written here, by us.
"The inhabitants of the City of Sulphur Springs … shall be a body politic and corporate by name the City of Sulphur Springs. Under that name it shall have perpetual succession."
Sulphur Springs itself was first incorporated in 1859 and operated as a general-law city for the better part of ninety years. Then, having grown past the 5,000-resident threshold, our home-rule charter was adopted by Sulphur Springs voters at an election held February 18, 1947. That's worth pausing on: our local constitution wasn't handed down by the state or written by politicians alone — it was approved at the ballot box by the people of this city, and only the people of this city can change its substance.
The charter belongs to the voters
- Amending it takes an electionCharter amendments can be proposed by the council or by citizen petition. The charter's own text (Sec. 41) calls for a petition of 20% of qualified voters — but this is a living example of the home-rule principle above: where the charter conflicts with state law, state law wins. Texas Local Government Code Sec. 9.004 requires the council to order an amendment election on a petition of just 5% of the city's registered voters. Either way, no amendment takes effect unless a majority of voters approve it at an election.
- It has been updated by the votersMost recently, Sulphur Springs voters approved a set of charter amendments at the May 4, 2019 election.
- A citizen review is scheduled for 2028The charter requires the council to appoint a Charter Commission of twelve citizens at its first regular meeting of 2028 — and at least every ten years after — to review how the charter is working and recommend changes. Any substantive change it proposes still goes to the voters. (Charter Sec. 45)
Read it yourself
The full Home Rule Charter (PDF) is a public document, available from the City Secretary and on the city website. It runs about sixteen pages — shorter than most cell phone contracts, and considerably more important.