Early results show that Litchfield Park residents overwhelmingly voted in favor of becoming Arizona’s 20th charter city.
Litchfield Park is currently among the more than 70 cities and towns in Arizona that operate as general law cities, or municipalities that can only exercise powers expressly granted to them in state law.
But that will soon change. After Tuesday’s vote, Litchfield Park residents are scheduled to vote to adopt a forthcoming city charter in March.
The charter is essentially the city’s constitution that deals with issues of local concern, though charter cities are still subject to many state laws as well.
Tom Belshe, the executive director of the Arizona League of Cities and Towns, said some charters restrict things like increases on taxation while others provide more flexibility on the types of financing a city can use. Charters also deal with other topics like how council members are elected, term limits and city administrative issues.
“In some areas, a charter can provide more flexibility for a city, but … there are instances in which it creates greater restrictions,” he said.
But, Belshe said, becoming a charter city gives residents more self-determination over those decisions.
“That’s the entire idea of a charter … is self-determination, is home rule,” he said. “It’s the idea that citizens within the community are creating the framework, and some of those frameworks go beyond what the state will allow and there might be some restrictions.”
