Of the 29 atolls that make up the Marshall Islands the 24 inhabited atolls form the basis of the administrative division of the country. Each inhabited atoll corresponds with a municipal and electoral district. Local elections are held parallel to parliamentary elections every four years.The last Council members and mayors were elected in 2007, the next elections are due in the second half of 2011. Councilors and mayors are the head of four district centers - Majuro, Ebeye, Jaluit, and Wotje – which serve as local government institutions. The districts can raise their own taxes and receive grants from national government. Also traditional forms of government play an important role at the local level as well as at the national level with the Iroji (a council of 12 traditional chiefs) alongside the national parliament (Ntijela).
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Local government is enshrined in the Marshall Island Constitution under article IX and further elaborated in the Local Government Act of 1980. These texts set out the structures of local government as well as the fields that localities are responsible for. In 1989 the Local Government Tax and Fees Act was put in action granting localities further powers in the levying of taxes and allocation of local funds. Other legislative acts for example the Historic Preservation Act of 1991 creates positions for local government liaisons for the preservation of historical sites. Local government thus has an important executive role in carrying out national government policy.
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Development on local government scale takes place for example in the field of environmental improvements and tourism, the latter being an important source of income for the Marshall Islands. The protection of marine life, and general sustainable development go hand in hand with improvements of living conditions of the local population. One such program in which national and local governments cooperate with each other and external organizations is the; "Building the Resilience of Communities and their Ecosystems to the Impacts of Climate Change in the Pacific".
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