Cool City Challenge!

You need people living and visiting your city because people pay taxes and the taxes generate revenue for all the services you need to run a municipal government!   But you'll also need a great economy too, so think about what businesses will spotlight your area.  You will create a brochure  (found in Microsoft Publisher) to sell your municipality to future residents (you can call it a city, town, or village). You also need to include fun, historical, or cultural things you'll have in your municipality, since fun, historical and cultural offerings draw tax and tourism dollars to your city...which means MORE revenue in tax dollars!  You have no limits in terms of geography...you can be coastal, near the mountains, or maybe you just want to be the most progressive urban city in America.

2. What information do I have to include in my brochure or flyer?  (pay special attention to terms in bold, as these WILL have to be included correctly in your final brochure for full credit)

In an attractive, creative format, you'll need to include the following information however you think it will look best:
_____The NEW name of your incorporated municipality. Pick a name that makes your municipality attractive to future residents. Use the word "incorporated" to describe your municipality. For example, "Welcome to the incorporated Village of Self Sufficiency, located in the mountains of Colorado!"  

____ Have a slogan or short statement about what your city, town, or village offers to residents AND visitors. Make it catchy!

_____The exact month and year your municipality was chartered. Include WHO granted this charter to you (hint, you'll need to google the correct branch of government in any state that grants charters to local governments). Use a form of the verb "to charter" in your sentence. For example, "Self Sufficiency was chartered in January, 2013, by the __?? ___ of Colorado."

______ Include what county your municipality is located in.  You can invent this name as well, but make sure to label the county as such by using the word. 

____ Include and label by name your municipal government's local sales tax rate (in %), and the property tax rate (also by %). Don't go crazy on taxes. People hate them and are unlikely to live in a town with a 50% tax rate. Google websites to get an idea of average local property tax rates and local sales tax rates.

____ Include a listing of who works in your legislative branch and who works in the executive branch by their names and title.  Hint: You'll have titles like mayor, city or town councils, alderman, city managers, police chiefs etc.   You must include at least 6 names and titles, labeling what their role is and describing it.  A good website to read to find out this info is found here. 

____ Include the name of a county courthouse that will be located in your city to help with judicial branch duties. Remember, county government run the local courts, not municipal governments.

____ Include any historical, cultural, or entertaining things your municipality has to offer. Remember, the more people that live in your city, (and spend money there), the more taxes you can collect. The quality of people has to be good for you to have nice homes, which bring in higher property taxes. My point...don't make your town only attractive to high school kids or pot smokers, since neither of those people are known for their ability to pay taxes. :)

____ Include at least 5 services your municipality provides its residents.  Municipal services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect the city government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), water, streets, the public library, schools, food inspection, fire department, police, ambulance, city parks and other health department issues and transportation. City governments often operate or contract for additional utilities like electricity, gas and cable television. 

____ Include and describe at least 2 special districts in your municipality.

A paper rubric will be given to you in class to help you check off these tasks and see what you're grade will be.

 
3. When is this project due?

By the end of class, god willing.   When you have your brochure laid out with all the information above, make sure your name is on the front of it somewhere, save it as a PDF file (Save As, change to *pdf) and then upload in the Team Drive folder "Cool City Challenge".  I'll print in color and the class can vote on their favorite! The winner gets one Chapter Checkpoint exemption!  If you want to see what a real incorporated city brochure looks like for ideas, click here.  Obviously, you don't have the time to make it this extensive, but it'll help you draw ideas.