1.5 Charter Cities

A California city can be a “charter city,” with a voter-approved city charter, or a “general law” city. City charters may be extensive, with complex governance structures and processes and comprehensive local legislation, or may simply avail a city of the powers available to charter cities under the California Constitution. Roughly 25% of California cities are charter cities and larger and older cities are more likely to be charter cities than smaller and newer cities.