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A beginner’s guide to special districts in the USA

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A beginner’s guide to special districts in the USA

Just as counties, states and cities have their localized governments to provide their service, special districts in America are a form of local government. They are formed to serve a specific need of a community. They are established around one or more specific areas of interest such as social, financial, or environmental concerns. They are the most common type of local government and their functions are diverse and numerous.


Faces of special districts

Special districts are local forms of government that provide specific services. In most cases, the services provided by special districts are not provided by local governments like cities or counties. Special districts do not have a nationally recognized definition and different states may interpret them differently, making it hard to narrow down what makes special districts. If it is a local government that works to meet specific needs, it is probably safe to say that it is a special district.


While the term is vague, most special districts provide common and easily recognizable services that communities rely on. Water districts, fire districts, cemetery districts and park districts are examples of special districts. Most special districts exist to provide a specific service to a certain area.


Another important facet is that special districts extend through multiple cities and in some cases multiple counties. By working with other local governments in the region, they can offer comprehensive coverage over the areas they serve. So, why are special districts needed? The simple answer is that special districts are needed to fill a gap that cannot be filled by cities, counties and other types of local governments.

In the United States, there exist over 38,000 special districts. These special districts provide various services from mutual security to utilities. Some of the most common special districts include districts for fire, housing, drainage control and more.



Importance of special districts

It is difficult for county and city governments to provide every service to the citizens due to the competing demands from the limited tax base. That is why, to expand existing services or to fund new services, they form special districts to fill the gap. These special districts pay for services independently. This allows them to perform jobs that other types of local governments are less capable to address.


Most special districts do jobs that enable communities to function efficiently, such as providing utilities, building and overseeing public housing, administering cemeteries. Without special districts, a lot of local governments would struggle and find it hard to keep up with the living standards and communities would decline as a result.

Individual communities have their own circumstances that should be addressed in many areas of the country. Special districts are used in these cases. They step in to provide unique services and fill unique gaps. For example, areas prone to flooding may establish special districts in America to combat this problem by providing warning and monitoring systems. Other areas may have specific requirements for the business such as large hospitals which means their regulations should be held to a different standard than it would be practical for most commercial or residential areas.

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