The City of Melissa is a home rule city governed by a Council-Manager form of government in which the City Council establishes City policy through ordinances and resolutions, and the City Manager carries out City policy and is responsible for City operations. Effective November 2011, the citizens of the City of Melissa adopted its first Home Rule Charter (PDF), thus converting the City from a Type A General Law City to a Home Rule Municipality.
The purpose of the Home Rule Charter is to:
- Define and limit the powers, duties and responsibilities of local government based on local preferences and desires
- Define the form of local government and establishes organizational Provisions; identify necessary controls over their City government such as elections, referendums, initiatives and recall
- Define the procedures to amend the Charter
All powers of the City shall be exercised in the manner prescribed by this Charter, or if the manner not be prescribed, then in such manner as may be prescribed by ordinance, the State Constitution, or by the statutes of the State of Texas.