Minnesota’s townships to hold annual meetings on Township Day, Tuesday, March 12

Minnesota’s 1,777 townships will hold their annual meeting on Tuesday, March 12. Known as Township Day, these annual meetings are held every year on the second Tuesday in March and sets townships apart from other forms of local government. At this meeting, residents of the townships will meet to voice their opinions about local issues with other township residents and also vote directly on their annual tax levy — direct democracy in action. Citizens attending annual meetings also often discuss and vote on other local issues.

In addition, many of the state’s townships will hold their township officer elections on Tuesday’s Township Day.

There are approximately 918,256 township residents in 1,777 townships in Minnesota. Townships exist in every area of the state, including the metropolitan area. Some, with populations of more than 1,000, function in much the same way as a small city. While many townships remain rural agricultural centers, other host a variety of residential, light commercial, and industrial development.

The tradition of a town meeting has roots in colonial America. New England town meetings gave citizens a way to exercise local authority. Townships were the original form of local government in Minnesota, established in the 1800s when Congress ordered a survey that divided the Minnesota territory into 36 square mile tracts of land. Today, the term “township” generally refers to public corporations governed by a local board of supervisors and created to provide services to residents.