Contract city is a term used in some
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
s for a city that contracts for the provision of one or more municipal services with another unit of government or with a private or commercial organization.
Lakewood
Lakewood, California
Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower on the north, Cerritos on the northeast, Cypress on the east, ...
was incorporated in 1954 as the first contract city.
It was not the first city to enter into a contract with a county government to have services provided by the county.
At that point in time,
Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...
already "had over 400 service agreements with 45 cities."
What distinguishes Lakewood and other contract cities from traditional full-service cities is their reliance on "contracting as a way of life."
In Lakewood's case, it outsourced services so thoroughly back to the
Los Angeles County government that early on, it only needed three employees: "an attorney, a city manager, and a secretary."
This raises the obvious question of why it needed to incorporate in the first place.
In the early 1950s, Lakewood was an
unincorporated area
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either hav ...
facing a hostile annexation from adjacent
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
.
American cities traditionally impose additional taxes on top of county taxes, but often provide higher levels of service and a wider range of services than county governments.
However, unlike the vast majority of American counties, Los Angeles County had already developed a tradition of providing relatively high levels of service to unincorporated urban areas.
Lakewood residents were satisfied with the status quo and were uninterested in paying even higher taxes to support both the Los Angeles County government and the Long Beach city government.
Conversely, the county government had an interest in maintaining its traditional service-delivery role, as did its employees.
Lakewood's use of municipal incorporation and extensive intergovernmental contracting to maintain local control became known as the Lakewood Plan and has served as a model for contract cities ever since.
In contrast, independent cities are cities which provide basic governmental services themselves, without contracting (this usage is not to be confused with the more common usage of
independent city
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity (such as a province).
Historical precursors
In the Holy Roman Empire, and to a degree in its successor states ...
as a city that is not part of any
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
). Most older cities are independent cities. In practice, many cities today are hybrids of both. For instance, they may directly operate parks programs, but contract with the county for police and fire services. Most contract cities do their own
land use planning
Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals ...
, since they were usually incorporated to exert local control over land use.
Notable contract cities
In the 21st century there has been a significant increase in the number of contract cities. Several that have received attention from the media include:
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Sandy Springs, Georgia
Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, ...
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Centennial, Colorado
Centennial is a home rule municipality located in Arapahoe County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,418 at the 2020 United States Census, making Centennial the 11th most populous municipality in Colorado. Centennial is a part ...
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Maywood, California
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Dunwoody, Georgia
Dunwoody is a city located in DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. As a northern suburb of Atlanta, Dunwoody is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. It was incorporated as a city on December 1, 2008 but its area establishment dates back to ...
See also
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Privatization
Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...
External links
Contract City historyCalifornia Contract Cities AssociationIndependent Cities AssociationReason Foundation, Local Government
References
{{Reflist
Public administration