Hordaland County Municipality Explained

Hordaland County Municipality
Native Name:Hordaland fylkeskommune
Native Name Lang:no
Settlement Type:Former County
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:Norway
Seat Type:Administrative center
Seat:Bergen
Extinct Title:Disestablished
Extinct Date:1 Jan 2020
Leader Title:County mayor
Leader Name:Anne Gine Hestetun
Leader Title1:Chairman of Cabinet
Iso Code:NO-12
Blank Name Sec1:Revenue
Blank Info Sec1:NOK 3,300 million
Blank1 Name Sec1:Employees
Blank1 Info Sec1:4,200
Blank Name Sec2:Schools
Blank Info Sec2:46
Blank1 Name Sec2:Pupils
Blank1 Info Sec2:17,000
Blank2 Name Sec2:Transit authority
Blank2 Info Sec2:Skyss
Blank3 Name Sec2:Roads

Hordaland County Municipality (Norwegian: Hordaland fylkeskommune) was the regional governing administration of the old Hordaland county in Norway. The county municipality was established in its most recent form on 1 January 1976 when the law was changed to allow elected county councils in Norway. The county municipality was dissolved on 1 January 2020, when Hordaland was merged with the neighboring Sogn og Fjordane county, creating the new Vestland county which is led by the Vestland County Municipality.

The main responsibilities of the county municipality included the running of 46 upper secondary schools, with 17,000 pupils. It managed all the county roadways, public transport, dental care, culture, and cultural heritage sites in the county.

County government

The Hordaland county council (Norwegian: Fylkestinget) was made up of 57 representatives that were elected every four years. The council essentially acted as a Parliament or legislative body for the county and it met several times each year. The council was divided into standing committees and an executive board (Norwegian: fylkesutvalg) which met considerably more often. Both the council and executive board were led by the County Mayor (Norwegian: fylkesordfører) who held the executive powers of the county. The final County Mayor was Anne Gine Hestetun of the Labour Party, while her deputy was Rune Haugsdal.

County council

The party breakdown of the council was as follows:

Transport

Public transport in Hordaland was the responsibility of the county municipality, including the city buses in the city of Bergen. Control of the city buses was transferred from the city to the county on 1 January 2008.

In 2007, the county municipality created the transit authority called "Skyss" that would market public transport while it would be operated by private companies based on public service obligation contracts. Prior to this, most routes had been operated by the private company Tide Buss and its predecessors.

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