@Jim,
Right!
The question is, what local at that point?
Currently if you live in the suburbs, your local seat of government might be a 15-20 mile drive.
If we are assuming a post-SHTF, limited fuel supplies or none at all, local might be defined as within half a days walking distance (half a day there, half a day back).
New, local communities might form (more for a sense of not only community but security as well) their own local governments.
Where I am, we have many small “towns,” “villages” around a larger city. You can see how back in the day of horse drawn wagons where these were towns with several miles in between each of them.
Town might be a small collection of people who occupy a few homes next to each other, surrounded by derelict homes/buildings.