Standard for municipal titles in a benchmark report?

Post date: 2026-10-08 07:41:08

I'm writing a benchmark report to tell one city about how their neighbors are handing a regulatory process. The cities all seem to have different naming styles - "X City" vs "City of X". Please advise me on how to reference these names throughout the report.

Specific Questions:
1. When do I spell out the entire name (City of Muskegon), when do I reference the unit ("The City" or "The city"), when do I reference the proper name ("Muskegon")?

2. Should I always say "charter township" or may that be simplified to "township"? Does it matter if the proper name is included? ("Muskegon Charter Township" / "Muskegon Township")?

3. When I put these in a table and sort alphabetically, should I split out the muni type before sorting? E.G.:

Sorted by municipal common name:
Grand Haven City
Holland City
Hudsonville City
City of Ludington
City of Manistee
City of Muskegon
Muskegon Charter Township
St. Joseph Charter Township
City of St. Joseph
City of Three Rivers

Sorted by municipal proper name:
City of Ludington
City of Manistee
City of Muskegon
City of St. Joseph
City of Three Rivers
Grand Haven City
Holland City
Hudsonville City
Muskegon Charter Township
St. Joseph Charter Township

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