Special districts (also known as special service districts, special district governments, limited purpose entities, or special-purpose districts) are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from local governments such as

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

, and

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

governments, with substantial administrative and fiscal independence. They are formed to perform a single function or a set of related functions. The term ''special district governments'' as defined by the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

excludes

school district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public primary and secondary schools in various nations. North America United States In the U.S, most K–12 public schools function as units of local school districts, wh ...

s. In 2017, the U.S. had more than 51,296 special district governments.

Census definition

The United States Census counts government units across all States. This includes "special districts." To count the special districts the Census must define the special districts so as to address all such governmental entities across the broad spectrum of 50 states' definitions and interpretations. The Census's full definition is:

Special district governments are independent, special purpose governmental units, other than school district governments, that exist as separate entities with substantial administrative and fiscal independence from general purpose local governments. As defined for Census Bureau statistics on governments, the term ‘‘special district governments’’ excludes school district governments as they are defined as a separate governmental type. Special district governments provide specific services that are not being supplied by existing general purpose governments. Most perform a single function, but in some instances, their enabling legislation allows them to provide several, usually related, types of services. The services provided by these districts range from such basic social needs as hospitals and fire protection, to the less conspicuous tasks of mosquito abatement and upkeep of cemeteries. The Census Bureau classification of special district governments covers a wide variety of entities, most of which are officially called districts or authorities. Not all public agencies so termed, however, represent separate governments. Many entities that carry the designation ‘‘district’’ or ‘‘authority’’ are, by law, so closely related to county, municipal, town or township, or state governments that they are classified as subordinate agencies of those governments in Census Bureau statistics on governments, and are not counted as separate special district governments. In order to be classified as a special district government, rather than as a subordinate agency, an entity must possess three attributes—existence as an organized entity, governmental character, and substantial autonomy. Each state description also lists various statutory authorities, commissions, corporations, and other forms of organizations that have certain governmental characteristics, but are subject by law to administrative or fiscal control by the state or by independent local governments; therefore, they are classified as subordinate agencies of those governments.

Characteristics

Special districts serve limited areas and have governing boards that accomplish legislatively assigned functions using

public funds Government spending or expenditure includes all government consumption, investment, and transfer payments. In national income accounting, the acquisition by governments of goods and services for current use, to directly satisfy the individual o ...

.Mitzanry, K, & Manatt, A. (2002, February).What's so special about special districts? A citizen's guide to special districts in California. 3rd. ed. p. 2.

Governing body

Each district is governed by a

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

, or the like. These boards may be appointed by public

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

s, appointed by private entities, popularly elected, or elected by benefited citizens (typically,

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, r ...

owners). Sometimes, one or more public officials will serve as an

ex officio member An ''ex officio'' member is a member of a body (notably a board, committee, council) who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term '' ex officio'' is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right ...

on the board. The board of a special district serves primarily as a managing board and often appoints a

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

for day-to-day operations and decision making and policy implementation. In the

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

states, special districts are often run in the same

town meeting Town meeting is a form of local government in which most or all of the members of a community are eligible to legislate policy and budgets for local government. It is a town- or city-level meeting in which decisions are made, in contrast with ...

fashion as other local governments. Most districts have employees, but some districts exist solely to raise funds by issuing

bond Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...

s and/or by providing

tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program is ...

Functions

Special districts perform many functions including

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

mass transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

parking facilities Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the buildings' ...

fire protection Fire protection is the study and practice of mitigating the unwanted effects of potentially destructive fires. It involves the study of the behaviour, compartmentalisation, suppression and investigation of fire and its related emergencies, as we ...

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite or graveyard is a place where the remains of dead people are buried or otherwise interred. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek , "sleeping place") implies that the land is specifically designated as a buri ...

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

sewerage Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drainage, drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, a ...

wastewater treatment Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environme ...

solid waste Municipal solid waste (MSW), commonly known as trash or garbage in the United States and rubbish in Britain, is a waste type consisting of everyday items that are discarded by the public. "Garbage" can also refer specifically to food waste, ...

, fiber optic systems,

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Thes ...

electric power Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt, one joule per second. Standard prefixes apply to watts as with other SI units: thousands, millions and billions o ...

, and

natural gas utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and r ...

Legal basis

Special districts are authorized by state law and must have

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

foundation,

civil office An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

, and public

accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...

State law

Special districts in the United States are founded by some level of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

in accordance with state law (either constitutional amendment, general law, or special acts) and exist in all states. Special districts are legally separate entities with at least some corporate powers. Districts are created by legislative action, court action, or public

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

. The procedures for creating a special district may include procedures such as

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

s, hearings, voter or landowner approval, or government approval. Tribal governments may create special districts pursuant to state law and may serve on the boards of special districts.

Public foundation

Special districts, like all public entities, have

foundation. The

landmark case Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly u ...

of the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

addressing public versus private charters was ''

Dartmouth College v. Woodward ''Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward'', 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 518 (1819), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision in United States corporate law from the Supreme Court of the United States, United States ...

'' in 1819.Newmyer, R. K. John Marshall and heroic age of the Supreme Court. Louisiana State University Press: Baton Rouge, 2001, pp. 244-253. Dartmouth established the fundamental differences between public and private organizations. Critically, a government must be founded by all of the people of a governmental area or by their governmental representatives.Allen v. McKean, 1 F. Cas. 489 (1833)Currie, D. P. (1982, Fall). The Constitution in the Supreme Court: State and Congressional powers, 1801-1835. University of Chicago Law Review. 49 U. Chi. L. Rev. 887.

Civil office

Special districts possess some form of

, that is, the board has received a delegation of

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

power from the state. Some boards may be appointed by only landowners. Private entities may appoint some or all of the members of a special district; however, there must be evidence of civil office. In addition to special districts with privately appointed boards, a special district may have a privately founded board; however, such a board could not be given the power to set a tax.

Accountability

There is a citizen-government

fiscal Fiscal usually refers to government finance. In this context, it may refer to: Economics * Fiscal policy, use of government expenditure to influence economic development * Fiscal policy debate * Fiscal adjustment, a reduction in the government ...

relationship. To maintain accountability for special districts, states must maintain ultimate control (the power to repeal the authorizing law at any time). Due to public foundation and, thus, ultimate control, the state can freely delegate sovereign power (such as the power to tax) to special districts and can allow them to act autonomously with little supervision.

History

There is little information available on the earliest special districts in the United States. It is known that park districts existed in the 18th century.

Toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or ''toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented ...

and

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

corporations existed in the 19th century.Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. (1964, May). The problem special districts in American government. Washington, DC UNT Digital Library The first general statute authorizing

irrigation district In the United States an irrigation district is a cooperative, self-governing public corporation set up as a subdivision of the State government, with definite geographic boundaries, organized, and having taxing power to obtain and distribute water f ...

s was adopted by California in 1887. The U.S. Census Bureau began identifying and collecting data on special districts in 1942.

English custom

Special districts in the United States follow the English custom. The earliest known general law in England authorizing special purpose authorities was the Statute of Sewers of 1532.Webb, S.(1922). English local government: Statutory authorities for special purposes. p. 61. Single purpose authorities created by individual

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

s also existed at the time. However, the early authorities were temporary and unconnected to local government structure. The first laws authorizing permanent authorities connected to local governments were the Incorporated Guardians of the Poor, which were created by special acts in the 17th century.

Turnpike trust Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom, acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road toll road, tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Kingdom of Great Britain, Britain from the 17th b ...

s were an early and popular special purpose authority in England.

Internal drainage board An internal drainage board (IDB) is a type of operating authority which is established in areas of special drainage need in England and Wales with permissive powers to undertake work to secure clean water drainage and water level management withi ...

s are current examples in parts of England and Wales.

Trends

The state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

leads the nation in the number of special districts with

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

close behind. State counts of their special districts may differ from the federal count because the states may have different definitions of a special district than the U.S. Census Bureau.

Examples

All of the following examples have been found by the U.S. Census Bureau to be special districts.U.S. Census Bureau 2012 Census of Governments Governments Organization See the Census of Governments Government Organization publications at a depository library or visit https://www.census.gov and select Governments Division. * Alabama: Alabama Municipal Electric Authority (special act) * Alaska: regional electrical authorities (general law) * Arizona: drainage districts (general law) * Arkansas: fire ant abatement districts (general law) *

* Colorado: more than 4,00
special districts
* Connecticut: Pomperaug Valley Water Authority (special act) * Delaware: tax ditches (general law) * Florida: many * Georgia: airport authorities (special acts) * Hawaii: Office of Hawaiian Affairs (constitutional amendment) * Idaho: auditorium districts (general law) *

* Indiana: Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority (special act) * Iowa: library districts (joint or regional) (general law) * Kansas: industrial districts (general law) * Kentucky: Louisville-Jefferson County Air Pollution Control District (general law with special application) * Louisiana: levee districts (general law), Abbeville Film and Visitors Commission District (special act) * Maine: cemetery districts (special acts) * Maryland: water and sewer authorities (general law) * Massachusetts: Goose Pond Maintenance District (special act) * Michigan: recreation authorities (general law) * Minnesota: Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (special act) * Mississippi: lighting districts (special acts) * Missouri: Jackson County Sports Complex Authority (special act) * Montana: county rail authorities (general law) * Nebraska: Omaha Metropolitan Utilities District (general law with special application) * New Hampshire: housing authorities (general law) * New Jersey:

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized ...

and New Jersey Turnpike Authority - 1948 law (joint or regional) (general law) * New Mexico: cotton boll weevil control districts (general law) *

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

: Hyde Park Fire and Water District (special act) * North Carolina: Research Triangle Regional Public Transit Authority (special act) * North Dakota: vector control districts (general law) *

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

* Oklahoma: public library systems (general law) * Oregon: geothermal heating districts, port authorities -1909 (general law), 34 types in total * Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Regional Port Authority (special act) * Rhode Island: East Providence Special Development District Commission (special act) * South Carolina: Myrtle Beach Air Base Redevelopment Authority (executive order) * South Dakota: television translator districts (general law) * Tennessee: utility districts (general law) * Texas: Palacios Seawall Commission (special act) * Utah: irrigation districts (general law) * Vermont: Vermont Public Power Supply Authority (special act) * Virginia: Buchanan County Tourist Train Development Authority (special act) * Washington: hydroelectric resources authorities (general law) * West Virginia: Hatfield-McCoy Regional Recreation Authority (special act) * Wisconsin: local professional baseball park districts (general law) * Wyoming: resort districts (general law)

References

External links

A Citizen's Guide to Special Districts in California

California Special Districts Association

Special Districts Association of Oregon

Oregon Special Districts Fact Sheets

U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Census Bureau/Governments Organization/Volume 1

Government Accounting Standards Board

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100211112521/http://harvester.census.gov/gid/gid_07/options.html 2007 Governments Integrated Directory, U.S. Census Bureau]
IRS tax-exempt bond information

Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington

Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Special District Accountability Program

State and Local Government Review - current and past issues

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Special Districts (HBO)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Special-Purpose District Types of administrative division