The Warsaw City Council is a supervisory and regulatory authority. It makes decisions concerning the most important matters related to city functioning and supervises actions of the Mayor. 60 councillors sitting in the City Council are elected in general election. Works of the council are directed by a Chairman chosen amongst its members, who, along with the vice chairmen, forms the Presidium of the Warsaw City Council.
The tasks of the Council of the Capital City of Warsaw are specified in Article 18 of the Act on Borough Self-Government and Article 12 of the Act on County Self-Government, as well as in the Structure of the Capital City of Warsaw Act.
Warsaw City Council exclusive jurisdiction is:
- establishing acts of local law, including enacting statutes of the Capital City of Warsaw;
- enacting statutes of districts of the Capital City of Warsaw;
- determination of remuneration of the Mayor of the Capital City of Warsaw, determination of the directions of his/her activities and receiving reports concerning his/her activities;
- appointment and dismissal of the Treasurer of the Capital City of Warsaw at the request of the Mayor
- adopting the budget of the Capital City of Warsaw, examination of reports of budget execution and adopting a resolution on granting the discharge for the budget or not;
- enacting the study of the conditions and directions of the commune spatial planning as well as local spatial planning;
- enacting economic programs;
- receiving development programs following the procedure outlined in the regulations on development policy;
- determination of the scope of the auxiliary units' activities, principles of passing on to them property components for use as well as principles of transferring the budget funds for the execution of the tasks by these units;
- adopting resolutions in the tax and fee matters within the limits specified in the separate acts;
- adopting resolutions on property of the commune, exceeding the scope of an ordinary management, concerning:
- principles of purchasing, selling and charging real estate and their leasing or renting for definite time longer than 3 years or for an indefinite time,
- issue of bonds and determining the principles of their sale, purchase and redemption,
- incurring long-term loans and credits,
- determining maximum amount of loans and short-term credits incurred by the Mayor in a given financial year,
- obligations regarding investments and repairs of value exceeding the limit determined on the annual basis by the Council,
- creating and joining unions, associations and foundations and their resolving as well as leaving them,
- creating and joining companies and collectives, resolving as well as leaving them,
- determination of the principles of contributing, disposing and selling shares and stocks,
- creating, liquidation and reorganization of companies, plants and other communal organizational units and equipping them with property,
- determining maximum amount of loans and sureties granted by of the Mayor in a given financial year;
- determination of the sum of money being a limit to Mayor's ability of incurring liabilities on his/her own;
- adoption of resolutions on acceptance of tasks within the government administration:
- adopting resolutions in matters of interaction with other communes and districts and production of an adequate property for this purpose
- adopting resolutions on cooperation with the local and regional communities of other countries and to joining international associations of local and regional communities;
- adopting resolutions on the coat of arms of the commune, names of streets and squares being public roads or names of internal roads as well as erection of monuments;
- granting honorary citizenship of the Capital City of Warsaw;
- adoption of resolutions on principles of granting scholarships for pupils and students;
- enacting crime prevention programme and protecting the citizens’ security and public order;
- enacting counteracting unemployment programme and mobilisation of the local labour market;
- making Capital City of Warsaw fire safety measures and flood protection assessment;
- legislating in other matters reserved by the legal acts within the competence of the Commune Council and District Council.