As of 2002 there were 62 counties and 182 public school districts. That year there were 270 municipal governments, cities, and towns; and 1,414 special districts. The administrative and policymaking body in each county is the board of county commissioners, whose three to five members (dependent on population) are elected to staggered, usually four-year, terms. Other county officials include the county clerk, treasurer, assessor, sheriff, coroner, superintendent of schools, surveyor, and attorney.
Statutory cities are those whose structure is defined by the state constitution. Power is delegated by the general assembly to either a council-manager or mayor-council form of government. Colorado municipalities have increasingly opted for home rule, taking control of local functions from the state government. Towns, which generally have fewer than 2,000 residents, are governed by a mayor and a board of trustees. The major source of revenue for both cities and towns is the property tax.
Denver, Colorado's capital and largest city, is run by a mayor and city council; a city auditor, independently elected, serves as a check on the mayor.