A village in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

is a model of local governance that only exists in

Clackamas County Clackamas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 421,401, making it Oregon's third-most populous county. Its county seat is Oregon City. The county was named after the Native ...

. Like

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

s elsewhere, it is a subnational entity; like New York's villages, the definition is unique to a state (at the moment, to one county in a state). Villages in Oregon are in addition to hamlets in Oregon (which were defined at the same time as villages) and to Community Planning Organizations (CPOs), which predate both villages and hamlets. In June 2006, citizens in the

Mount Hood Corridor The Mount Hood Corridor is a part of Oregon between Sandy and Government Camp, in Clackamas County. It is named after Mount Hood and has served travelers going in both directions since the days of Native Americans and Oregon Trail migrants. Th ...

communities of Brightwood, Wemme, Welches,

Zigzag A zigzag is a pattern made up of small corners at variable angles, though constant within the zigzag, tracing a path between two parallel lines; it can be described as both jagged and fairly regular. In geometry, this pattern is described as ...

, and Rhododendron voted to become the Villages at Mount Hood, Oregon's first village. From a census perspective these communities are part of the Mount Hood Village CDP. The residents of Boring voted against forming a village in July 2006. Government Camp, another community within the Mount Hood Corridor, is considering a village as a possible governance option.

Definition

For purposes of the laws related to hamlets and villages, a "citizen" means either *a resident at least 18 years of age living within the boundaries of a hamlet or village, or *a non-resident who owns property or a business there. According to Chapter 2.10 of the Clackamas County Code, a village is A village's boundaries cannot overlap the boundaries of another hamlet, village or city.

Process

To establish a village, a chief petitioner is responsible to collect the required number of citizen signatures and complete a village application form within 120 days. The petition

must be signed by at least 15% (vs. 10% for hamlets) of the citizens located within the proposed village boundary or 150 citizens (vs. 100), whichever is the lesser number, and shall state the proposed name, preliminary purpose, boundaries, number of Board members, and activities for the village.

A public hearing is then held, with a defined method of public notice beforehand. The BCC can then approve the petition as is, approve it with modifications, or reject it. If approved, within thirty days an organizational meeting must be held by the village's citizens. The purpose of the meeting is to establish a list of candidates for the village's Board. That list must also be approved by the BCC; once approved, the citizen's meet again, to vote on their board. Once elected, the Board defines the village's bylaws, which must also be approved by its citizens and the BCC. The Board also defines a village's plan, which defines the activities to be undertaken by the village, and which, like the bylaws, must be approved by its citizens and the BCC. Unlike hamlets, villages have specific public alternatives available to them for financing improvements in services and facilities within the village. Subject to state and county law, funding can be based on a

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in cont ...

local improvement district Business improvement districts (BIDs), also known as local improvement districts (LIDs), are special districts within a city that are overseen by a nonprofit entity. In the United States, BIDs are typically funded by an additional tax assessment, w ...

, or other service district. New taxes require approval in an election that the BCC orders on the village's behalf. The ordinance defining villages defines similar processes for other aspects of villages, such as their dissolution. In particular, board members acting within their authority as defined by bylaws and county policy are treated as agents of the county for claims made against the organization, officer or member for the purposes of the Oregon Tort Claims Act.

References

Sources

External links

Hamlets and villages
an

from the

website
Clackamas County Considering Hamlets and Villages
a September 2005 article from

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary television and radio public broadcasting network for most of the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington. OPB consists of five full-power television stations, dozens of VHF or UHF tra ...

* {{Official website, https://web.archive.org/web/20100507101613/http://www.co.clackamas.or.us/community/mthood.jsp for the Villages at Mount Hood, the first village Clackamas County, Oregon Local government in Oregon Unincorporated communities in Oregon

Definition

Process

See also

References

Sources

External links