Please Select an E-Book
Civil Marriage Ceremony Handbook for Mayors
Charter Revision Handbook
Ethics Handbook for Michigan Municipalities
The General Law Village Index
Handbook for General Law Village Officials
Handbook for Municipal Officials
Meetings: Agendas & Minutes
Planning Commissioners Handbook
Records Management Handbook
Zoning Board of Appeals Handbook
Civil Marriage Ceremony Handbook for Mayors – updated in 2015
Civil Marriage Ceremony Handbook for Mayors (PDF)
(276KB printer friendly)
Charter Revision Handbook
Charter Revision Handbook
(1500 KB interactive online version – LARGE FILE) (PDF)
Charter Revision Handbook – By Section
(Printer friendly)
Ethics Handbook
Ethics Handbook for Michigan Municipalities (PDF)
The General Law Village Act Index
View the GLV Act online here.
General Law Village Act Index (PDF)
Handbook for General Law Village Officials* – updated in 2024
Handbook for General Law Village Officials (PDF) – Entire book
Handbook for General Law Village Officials – By Chapter
Section 1: Local Government Service
Chapter 1 Welcome to Public Service (pdf)
Chapter 2 Structure of Local Government (pdf)
Section 2: Roles and Responsibilities
Chapter 3 Duties of Village Officials (pdf)
Chapter 4 Successful Meetings (pdf)
Chapter 5 Local Ordinances (pdf)
Chapter 6 Ethics (pdf)
Chapter 7 Influencing State and Federal Legislation (pdf)
Chapter 8 Training of Municipal Officials (pdf)
Chapter 9 Written Policies and Procedures (pdf)
Chapter 10 Village Service Options (pdf)
Section 3: Operations
Chapter 11 Employment and Personnel (pdf)
Chapter 12 Labor Relations (pdf)
Chapter 13 Municipal Liability (pdf)
Chapter 14 Planning and Zoning (pdf)
Chapter 15 Selecting and Working with Consultants (pdf)
Chapter 16 Authority and Internal Controls (pdf)
Section 4: Finance
Chapter 17 Budgeting (pdf)
Chapter 18 Financing Capital Improvements (pdf)
Chapter 19 Special Assessments and User Charges (pdf)
Chapter 20 Limits of Municipal Expenditures (pdf)
Appendices
Appendix 1: Glossary (pdf)
Appendix 2: Overview of the Michigan Open Meetings Act (pdf)
Appendix 3: Overview of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act (pdf)
Appendix 4: Sample Council Rules of Procedure (pdf)
Appendix 5: Sample Ordinance to Appoint a Village Manager (pdf)
Appendix 6: Sample Ordinance to Appoint the Village Clerk (pdf)
Appendix 7: Sample Ordinance to Appoint the Village Treasurer (pdf)
Appendix 8: Sample Ordinance to Reduce the Number of Trustees (pdf)
Appendix 9: Sample Budget Ordinance (pdf)
Appendix 10: Frequently Asked Questions (pdf)
Handbook for Municipal Officials* – updated in 2024
Handbook for Municipal Officials
(1300 KB interactive online version – LARGE FILE) (pdf)
Handbook for Municipal Officials – By Section | COMING SOON
(Printer friendly)
Cover (pdf)
Preface – Table of Contents (pdf)
Section 1: Local Government
Chapter 1 Welcome to Public Service (pdf)
Chapter 2 Structure of Local Government (pdf)
Chapter 3 Charter Revision and Amendment (pdf)
Chapter 4 Boundaries and Annexation (pdf)
Section 2: Roles and Responsibilities
Chapter 5 Duties of City Village Officials (pdf)
Chapter 6 Successful Meetings (pdf)
Chapter 7 Local Ordinances (pdf)
Chapter 8 Ethics (pdf)
Chapter 9 Influencing State and Federal Legislation (pdf)
Chapter 10 Training of Municipal Officials (pdf)
Section 3: Operations
Chapter 11 Written Policies and Procedures (pdf)
Chapter 12 Municipal Service Options (pdf)
Chapter 13 Employment and Personnel (pdf)
Chapter 14 Labor Relations (pdf)
Chapter 15 Municipal Liability (pdf)
Chapter 16 Planning and Zoning (pdf)
Chapter 17 Selecting and Working with Consultants (pdf)
Section 4: Finance
Chapter 18 Authority and Internal Controls (pdf)
Chapter 19 Budgeting (pdf)
Chapter 20 Purchasing (pdf)
Chapter 21 Financing Capital Improvements (pdf)
Chapter 22 Special Assessments and User Charges (pdf)
Chapter 23 Limits of Municipal Expenditures (pdf)
Appendices
Appendix 1: Glossary (pdf)
Appendix 2: Laws of Interest to Cities and Villages (pdf)
Appendix 3: Overview of Open Meetings Act (pdf)
Appendix 4: Overview of Freedom of Information Act (pdf)
Appendix 5: Sample Council Rules of Procedure (pdf)
Appendix 6: Sample Budget Ordinance (pdf)
Appendix 7: Questions and Answers (pdf)
Appendix 8: For More Information (pdf)
Index(pdf)
Meetings: Agendas & Minutes
Planning Commissioners Handbook
Planning Commissioners Handbook (PDF)
Records Management Handbook – Updated through 2012
Records Management Handbook
(800KB printer friendly) (PDF)
Note: Schedule #8, “Records Management Handbook: Guidelines and Approved Retention and Disposal Schedule for Cities and Villages,” published by the League, is an approved schedule. However, there have been significant changes regarding its updating. Instead of updating the entire schedule, Records Management Services is updating it in sections, as separate schedules. If you have adopted and used Schedule #8, you now need to adopt the separate schedules that have superseded sections of this book. For example, the Clerks schedule (schedule #24) have superseded sections of the Records Management Handbook.
Not all the new schedules promulgated by Records Management Services supersede sections of the Records Management Handbook. Schedules such as Public Libraries (schedule # 17) and Human Resources (schedule #26) are new, and were never a part of the original general schedule. You should look over the list of general schedules and adopt the schedules that are appropriate for your municipality.
Zoning Board of Appeals Handbook
Zoning Board of Appeals Handbook (PDF) – Updated December 2015