Administrative Divisions of Connecticut - Town

Town

The 169 towns of Connecticut are the principal units of local government in the state and have full municipal powers including:

• Corporate powers
• Eminent domain
• Ability to levy taxes
• Public services (low cost housing, waste disposal, fire, police, ambulance, street lighting)
• Public works (highways, sewers, cemeteries, parking lots, etc.)
• Regulatory powers (building codes, traffic, animals, crime, public health)
• Environmental protection
• Economic development

Towns traditionally had the town meeting form of government, which is still used by some of the 169 towns. Under Connecticut's Home Rule Act, any town is permitted to adopt its own local charter and choose its own structure of government. The three basic structures of municipal government used in the state, with variations from place to place, are the selectman–town meeting, mayor–council, and manager–council.

Nineteen towns are also incorporated as cities, while one town (Naugatuck) is also incorporated as a borough.

The 20 consolidated borough-town and city-towns are classified by the Census Bureau as both minor civil divisions and incorporated places, while the other 149 towns are classified only as minor civil divisions. Some of the larger, urban towns are also classified in their entirety as Census designated places.