City council calls for more flexibility in elected council size

The city council has approved a proposal urging Iceland’s parliament, the Althingi, to revise the Local Government Act and remove population-based limits on the number of elected representatives. The proposal was reported by mbl.is.

Instead, the city council’s majority proposes that each municipal council have at least five and no more than 31 full members, with municipalities deciding the number based on local needs.

Current law sets different ranges according to population: five to seven members for municipalities with fewer than 2,000 residents; seven to 11 for those with 2,000 to 9,999; 11 to 15 for those with 10,000 to 49,999; 15 to 23 for those with 50,000 to 99,999; and 23 to 31 for municipalities with 100,000 or more.

The proposal’s supporters say the population brackets are unnecessarily inflexible. They note that no municipality currently falls into the fourth bracket. Kópavogur is closest to that threshold and would have to increase its council to at least 15 full members once its population reaches 50,000.

They argue that municipalities should be trusted to use their right to self-government to choose a council size that balances cost, efficiency and democratic representation. The city council already determines its own governance structure, committees and boards, they said, and should also be able to choose a number between five and 31.