A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to perform state functions; a regional government. All counties are divided into cities, towns and townships.
CITY
A city is a unique government entity with its own special charter. Cities are not subdivided, except into neighborhoods which are informal geographic areas.
Hilliard’s city charter is known as the Mayor-Council Plan. The legislative powers of the city are vested in a Council of seven members, elected at large, for four overlapping terms.
TOWN
A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the state except that within cities or Indian reservations. Towns can be subdivided into villages and hamlets.
VILLAGE
A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with municipal services. The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a city. A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas.
TOWNSHIP
Establishment of townships whenever 80 electors inhabited any tract of five or six square miles. According to Baldwin's Ohio Township Law, the officers of these townships included three trustees, a Fiscal Officer, two overseers of the poor, highway supervisors, justices of the peace, and constables. Later, the Legislature added a treasurer and assessor. Today all Ohio townships with unincorporated territory have Boards of Trustees.
Townships provide basic services to residents, unless villages or cities assume some of those duties in the incorporated areas. Typically, municipalities have assumed and exercised authority for planning, zoning, law enforcement and street and road maintenance. Many cities today still rely on townships to provide fire and emergency medical services.
Townships have authority to purchase or appropriate land for a cemetery, sell plots, set fees for services, and maintain and expand the cemetery.
