One of the perhaps the most obvious and yet still most consistently recurring municipal corruption related problems for local governments is conflicts of interest, possibly due to the many and varied circumstances in which such conflicts may arise. The prevalence of this type of corruption is demonstrated by the amount of legal authority and case-law available on the topic.

Bribery

• the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty
• taking money to give people preferential treatment. identified areas of concern include bribes from developers in permitting process, payback for zoning decisions, equipment contracts, or service contracts, bribery of building inspectors to obtain permits, bribery of elected officials for development variances and approvals, bribery of planning staff to obtain recommendations for development approvals
• may take the form of inappropriate gifts/sponsorship such as hockey tickets and other gifts for politicians and/or staff

Nepotism /Cronyism

• cronyism may include awarding contracts to people affiliated with the municipality or corrupt official, patronage appointments based on connections rather than qualifications, awarding contracts at inflated prices
• nepotism may include such issues as favoring family members in municipal hirings, zoning regulation changes based on friendships among colleagues rather than disinterested analysis

Embezzlement

• misappropriation of money or resources under a local government official or employee’s control

Fraud

• making false claims for benefits in order to abuse systems such as social security

Extortion

• occurs when a public official forces someone to give them benefits in exchange for acting/ not acting in a particular way, or when an external actor does the same to a public official

Conflicts of Interest

• a personal interest in a matter that goes beyond the interests of other members of the community, and might reasonably be expected to influence the elected official’s performance of his or her duties e.g., close links between developers and city staff, campaign contributions from developers, conflict in contract awards, personal interest in administrative decisions

Breach of Duty

• local government officials and employees ignoring applicable municipal legislation, e.g. sale of municipal assets for less than market value

Misuse of Authority

• lack of transparency/democratic concerns such as inappropriate use of in-camera meetings, non-public altering of official records, dishonesty concerning legislative options 
• fraudulent use of expense accounts such as reimbursing inappropriate expenses, double expensing – influence on independent third party bodies, such as boards, which are intended to be at arm’s length

Criminal Activity

• including organized crime, internal theft/fraud, petty theft/fraud

source: Municipal “Best Practices”: Preventing Fraud, Bribery and Corruption  – Elizabeth Anderson