Velvet municipality

A "velvet municipality" (from "whole", "together") is in Lower Saxony and is an association of municipalities which leads the administrative shops for its member's municipalities. A velvet municipality should have at least 7,000 inhabitants (§71 paragraph 1 NGO from Lower Saxony). To the tasks count the installation of preparatory land-use plans, sewage disposal, cash shops or the cemetery being and fire being. It also takes over the sponsorship from elementary school, the construction from local connecting roads, equipment and entertainment of libraries, sports sites and establishment of other public equipment and can transfer other tasks of the member's municipalities, for instance, the area Tourismus. A large part (approx. 80%) of the municipalities from Lower Saxony has united to velvet municipalities.

Organs

Velvet municipalities have three organs:

• one for eight years directly elective velvet municipality mayor,
• a velvet district council elective for five years and
• a velvet municipality committee.

The velvet municipality committee exists of the velvet municipality mayor to whom the chairmanship holds (§56 paragraph 1 sentence 3 NGO), and according to size of the council from four to ten assistants and the council can decide a rise by two (§56 paragraph 2 NGO). These are taken according to seats of the factions and groups after Hare Niemeyer procedures.

Historical

There was Sammtgemeinden (at that time with double m written) also after only three years valid former local order for the Prussian state from March 11, 1850.

See also

• Local reform
• Association of municipalities
• List of the towns and municipalities in Lower Saxony with a list of all velvet municipalities