Across the country, voters went to the polls on November 3 to decide far more than who would hold elected office. The 2026 election put some of the most consequential issues facing local governments directly in voters’ hands. 

Ballot measures asked residents to weigh in on fundamental questions about how local governments raise revenue, manage growth, deliver services, and organize themselves to meet community needs. These are legitimate questions for the voters to decide and they have consequences for local governments.

Three issues in particular stand out for local government leaders: property tax policy, referendums on data centers as a proxy for voters to decide local zoning matters, and questions about municipal form of government.

Property Tax Votes Put Local Fiscal Capacity in Focus

During the past two years, ICMA's members have shared concerns about state preemption. Central to that discussion have been concerns about property tax limitations. Those conversations turned to ballot issues in several states. The decisions could impact how local governments fund services and what services they can provide, and could raise questions about the ability to repay debt, thus impacting bond ratings and the cost of borrowing. The results underscore the continued pressure to provide property tax relief while maintaining the resources needed to deliver local services.

• In Florida, voters approved Amendment 3, a significant restructuring of the property tax system that will reduce a major source of revenue for cities and counties. The measure significantly increases the homestead exemption for non-school local property taxes and lowers the annual assessment growth cap on non-homestead properties. 
  
  While the amendment provides substantial property tax relief to eligible homeowners, it does not provide a replacement revenue source for the local revenues that will be lost. Cities, counties, and special districts will have to absorb the revenue reductions through some combination of spending constraints and service level changes, and look for other ways to finance basic service delivery. 
  
  With the amendment now approved, the focus for local government leaders shifts to implementation: assessing the fiscal impact on individual communities, identifying efficiencies and alternative revenues, prioritizing essential services, and working with their governing bodies to determine their final course of action.
   
• In North Carolina, voters approved a constitutional amendment requiring the General Assembly to establish limits on how much counties, cities, and other local governments can increase property tax levies. The amendment does not set the limit itself, leaving state lawmakers to determine the cap and possible exceptions through future legislation. For local governments, that means the full fiscal impact will depend on how the General Assembly implements the new constitutional requirement.
   
• In Oklahoma, voters rejected State Question 847, a citizen initiative that would have further restricted growth in assessed property values by lowering annual assessment caps for residential, agricultural, commercial, and other locally assessed property. Its defeat leaves existing assessment limits in place and avoids an additional constraint on growth in the property tax base available to local governments and schools. 
   
• In Wyoming, voters rejected Proposition 1, which would have exempted 50% of the assessed value of qualifying primary residences from property taxation. Local governments, schools, and special districts in Wyoming rely heavily on property taxes, making the potential loss of revenue and its impact on services a central issue in the debate over the measure. 

Taken together, the results show voters wrestling with the same balance confronting local leaders: providing relief from rising property taxes while preserving the revenue needed to fund essential services and infrastructure.

Data Centers Move from the Planning Commission to the Ballot Box

Ten states and more than 40 local communities took land use decisions regarding data centers directly to the voters in the November election. Questions ranged from bans and moratoriums to zoning changes that would prohibit, restrict, or allow new facilities.

While data centers are the issue, what we are seeing is representative local government and the ability for local governments to make zoning decisions being restricted by referendum.

Form-of-Government Votes Bring Mixed Results for Professional Management

The November election brought disappointing results for professional local government management in two communities, but good news in a third.

• In Fort Smith, Arkansas, voters approved a proposal to replace the city's administrator form of government with a mayor-council system, with approximately 71% voting in favor of the change in unofficial results. Since 1967, Fort Smith has operated with an elected Board of Directors establishing policy and appointing a professional city administrator to oversee day-to-day operations. Under the new structure, executive and management responsibilities will shift to an elected mayor. The transition will take place over two years, with elections under the new system scheduled for November 2028 and the new government taking effect January 1, 2029.
  
  Fort Smith illustrates how quickly a form-of-government challenge can move. A citizen group collected enough signatures to place a proposed change before voters. The day the petition was certified, the Board of Directors also voted unanimously to call an election on the same proposal, resulting in a single November ballot question and leaving little time for a community-based educational effort to organize. ICMA worked with life member Kent Myers to provide educational resources on professional management, including adapting ICMA’s council-manager brochure to use Fort Smith’s local “city administrator” terminology and printing copies for distribution. Myers distributed the materials and spoke about value of the city administrator role at an October 12 community forum. The voters ultimately took a different path that is disappointing for professional local government.
   
• In Oakland, California, early results indicate that voters overwhelmingly supported Measure EE, which restructures Oakland's hybrid system of government and establishes the mayor as the city's chief executive, giving the mayor greater authority over city departments, the budget, and the appointment and removal of department heads. Those responsibilities currently rest within the portfolio of a professional city administrator.
  
  ICMA was engaged with the Oakland Charter Reform Project as it advocated for an alternative that would preserve professional management. ICMA staff met with the local group, providing data, educational materials, and strategic guidance. ICMA also engaged retired members and senior advisors in the region to contact city councilmembers and their networks, and worked with regional director Pat Martel to develop content for public comment before the council. Despite those efforts, the proposal that ultimately advanced to voters moved Oakland toward a stronger-mayor structure rather than the professionally managed alternative ICMA and the local group had supported.
   
• In a positive result for professional local government management, voters in Dillon, Montana approved a proposal to transition the city from its current council-mayor structure to a council-manager form of government. The new form of government will take effect January 3, 2028. Montana's constitution provides for a regular review of local government structure, requiring communities every 10 years to ask voters whether they want to undertake a formal review of their government. The process also provides mechanisms for communities to revisit changes between those decennial reviews, meaning Dillon voters could have an opportunity to reconsider the new structure before the next 10-year review cycle.
   
• Another closely watched proposal never made it to Election Day. In February 2026, Fremont, California, began considering a move from general-law status to a city charter. As the proposal developed, ICMA staff, regional director Pat Martel, and senior advisors engaged with local stakeholders, helping identify potential participants for the charter commission and supporting community education about professional management and the council-manager form. The proposed charter ultimately recommended retaining Fremont's council-manager form and the city manager's appointment authority. In July, however, the Fremont city council voted unanimously not to place the charter proposal on the November ballot, effectively shelving the effort for this election cycle.

The results in Fort Smith and Oakland highlight an ongoing challenge for the profession: ensuring residents understand what professional management contributes to effective local government. Form of government determines more than an organizational chart. It establishes where responsibility for day-to-day operations resides, how professional expertise informs decision-making, and the respective roles of elected officials and professional administrators.

With support from the Future of Professional Management Fund, ICMA is actively responding to that challenge. In communities facing form-of-government questions, ICMA works with members, senior advisors, regional directors, and local organizations to provide data and educational materials, offer strategic guidance, connect communities with experienced professional managers, and support outreach to residents and local decision makers. 

Those efforts looked different in each community this election cycle, from providing educational materials in Fort Smith, to supporting stakeholder outreach and public comment in Oakland, to engaging with local stakeholders as Fremont considered a proposed change in its form of government.

That work is continuing beyond the November elections. In Aurora, Illinois, ICMA is supporting Professional Aurora, a locally led group working to place a measure adopting the council-manager form on the April 2027 ballot. ICMA has provided educational resources, reviewed the group’s public-facing materials and messaging, and worked with senior advisors supporting community presentations and outreach. Through the Future of Professional Management Fund, ICMA has also committed financial support to broaden the group’s community education efforts and reach more residents.

For ICMA and its members, these experiences reinforce the importance of engaging communities early, well before questions about government structure reach the ballot. The Future of Professional Management Fund gives ICMA the capacity to identify emerging efforts, equip members and local leaders with credible information, and support community-led efforts to demonstrate the value of professional local government management.

Donate to the Fund

The ability to respond early can make a difference. Your gift to the Future of Professional Management Fund helps ICMA provide communities with the information, expertise, and resources they need to understand and champion professional local government management. Help ensure ICMA is ready when the next community faces a pivotal decision about its form of government.