I'm having a problem with my local sanitary district, and I was wondering in who has a higher power then them.

Question

I'm having a problem with my local sanitary district, and I was wondering in who has a higher power then them.

Answer 1

Without knowing the specific state and sanitary district, I can only give a general answer.

Generally speaking, local special districts (whether sanitary, sewer, water, or fire) are independent political subdivisions controlled by a group of directors elected by the voters.  These folks set the overall policies for the district and hire and fire the manager (and in theory the other employees but in larger districts, the manager and other upper level employees may hire and fire the lower level employees).  

If your problem is with the manager or a top level employee, the directors would be over them and you could raise your issue with the directors at their next regularly scheduled meeting.

If your problem is with a decision by the directors, the issue becomes a little bit harder.

For many aspects of the decisions of a sanitary district, there is a state department which has very limited oversight over the sanitary districts (sometimes its called the State EPA but in other states it goes by a different title).  If the sanitary district is violating state law (e.g. not properly disposing of the garbage or the sewage), this state department has the ability to take action to compel the district to come into compliance with the state law.  However, if it's merely a case of you disagreeing with a policy decision of the sanitary district, this state department probably does not have jurisdiction.

Beyond that, the State legislature always has the authority to re-write state laws to change the powers and discretion of special districts.  However, unless its something that your state legislator sees as an unfair practice as opposed to a mere error, the state legislature is not likely to get involved in day-to-day decisions of a sanitary district.

In reality, the final higher power is the voter of the district.  If the sanitary district is being unreasonable and the board is unwilling to change its policies, the board can be changed.  Of course that takes folks who are willing to run and put the time and effort into a campaign and into running the district if elected.  Because board terms tend to be staggered, it may take more than one election to bring about change.