Resources & Research

E-Books

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 at: http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(x2mtnxh2eg1w4xn5i4hsmbsk))/mileg.aspx?page=GetObject&objectname=mcl-Act-3-of-1895

General Law Village Act Index (PDF)

Handbook for General Law Village Officials* – updated in 2017

Handbook for General Law Village Officials (PDF) – Entire book

Handbook for General Law Village Officials – By Chapter

Section 1: Local Goverment 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 Influencing State and Federal Legislation (pdf)
Chapter 5 Elections (pdf)
Chapter 6 Successful Meetings (pdf)
Chapter 7 Local Ordinances (pdf)
Chapter 8 Ethics (pdf)
Chapter 9 Planning and Zoning (pdf)
Chapter 10 Training of Municipal Officials (pdf)

Section 3: Operations

Chapter 11 Village Service Options (pdf)
Chapter 12 Selecting and Working with Consultants (pdf)
Chapter 13 Why You Should Put Policies and Procedures in Writing (pdf)
Chapter 14 Employee and Labor Relations (pdf)
Chapter 15 Employment and Personnel  (pdf)
Chapter 16 Understanding Municipal Liability (pdf)

Section 4: Basic Finance

Chapter 17 Authority and Internal Controls (pdf)
Chapter 18 Budgeting (pdf)
Chapter 19 Financing Capital Improvements (pdf)
Chapter 20 Limits of Municipal Expenditures (pdf)
Chapter 21 Special Assessments and User Charges (pdf)

Appendices

Appendix 1: Laws of Interest to Cities and Villages (pdf)
Appendix 2: Overview of Open Meetings Act (pdf)
Appendix 3: Overview of 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)
Appendix 11: For More Information (pdf)
Appendix 12: Glossary (pdf)

Handbook for Municipal Officials* – updated in 2015

Handbook for Municipal Officials
(1300 KB interactive online version – LARGE FILE) (pdf)

Handbook for Municipal Officials – By Section
(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

Meetings: Agendas and 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

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