The Comune (municipality)

Comune (commune, municipality)
The municipality (Comune) is an autonomous local authority provided for in art. 114 of the Constitution of the Italian Republic. It represents its community, looks after its interests and promotes its development, and it is a territorial subdivision of the State and a centre for the decentralisation of state services and offices. In addition to its own functions, the municipality is responsible for the functions assigned to it by state or regional law and for all administrative functions concerning the municipal population and territory, above all in the core sectors of services to individuals and the community, land planning and use, and economic development; it also carries out administrative functions for services that fall under state jurisdiction, such as electoral services or the civil status and population registry (anagrafe) services. The fundamental functions of municipalities are set out mainly in art. 14, comma 27, of D.L. 78/2010 as amended: general organisation of the administration, financial and accounting management and control; organisation of public services of general interest (including municipal public transport), electoral services, keeping civil status records, statistics, military service.
Municipal bodies. These are: the municipal council, the mayor and the municipal secretary. The electorate directly elects both the mayor and the municipal council. The electoral system depends on whether the municipality has fewer or more than 15,000 inhabitants. The municipal council (consiglio comunale) is a collegiate body with policy-making, governance and political oversight functions, made up of a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 60 members depending on the size of the municipal population. The council is renewed every 5 years. Executive functions are performed by the municipal executive (giunta comunale), made up of the mayor, who chairs it, and of councillors appointed by the mayor. The number of its members is set by the municipal statute within the limits laid down by law. The mayor (sindaco) is elected by the citizens by universal and direct suffrage and holds office for 5 years. The mayor is a single-member body with a dual role: head of the municipal administration and government officer. The mayor’s duties include: representing the institution; overseeing the operation of municipal services and offices; supervising the implementation of acts. The mayor also has responsibilities for personal and community services, land use and planning, and economic development. As a government officer, and therefore as an organ of the State, the mayor has jurisdiction over the following matters: civil status; public hygiene; public order; in municipalities with no police station, the mayor is also the local public security authority.
The municipality is governed by the following bodies:
sindaco — the mayor of the municipality,
giunta comunale — the executive body, formed by the mayor,
consiglio comunale — the representative body, elected by the municipality’s residents.

An Italian municipality has a degree of administrative and financial autonomy, so the local authorities are responsible for managing the municipal territory in the following matters:
drawing up and implementing the municipality’s annual budget;
introducing and collecting local taxes;
setting the general land-use plan for the municipal territory and ensuring it is complied with;
registering civil status records, keeping a register of commercial transactions;
maintaining public order and public security;
managing municipal roads;
managing public buildings;
street cleaning, waste collection and disposal;
managing emergencies caused by bad weather and/or natural disasters.
If in certain circumstances the municipality cannot perform some of these functions, the mayor may ask the Prefecture (Prefettura) for help. To carry out its administrative functions, the municipality has an annual budget allocated by the State. Budget funds are allocated only after discussion and approval by the municipal council. Local authorities can be held accountable for performing their functions poorly.
Most municipalities have their own municipal police (polizia municipale), which keeps order on the roads and in public places, controls traffic and checks that businesses hold their trading licences.

Documents issued by the municipality:
Marriage and civil union certificate;
Birth certificate;
Certificate of citizenship;
Certificate of being alive, certificato di esistenza in vita (a certificate stating that you are alive);
Certificate of residence;
Certificate of marital status, and others.