State Government?

Question

Using at least two examples of special districts, explain why special districts are preferable, in some instances, to city or county government and how they differ from city or county government

Answer 1

Setting aside school districts, which can be considered a type of special district, special districts are ideal in addressing problems that are metropolitan in nature and cut across municipal and county lines.  The primary difference between cities and counties on the one hand and special districts on the other is that cities and counties are general purpose governments and can provide a lot of different services (eg. garbage service, police, fire, libraries, child protection, dog pound, etc) while a special district provides a limited service.  

Some that come to mind are fire suppression districts where the problem of wildfires is common to a group of cities, towns and counties.  A special district can provide the umbrella organization and source of resources to have a unified and common approach to the problem.  

Another example would be a metropolitan transit authority that tries to find solutions to mobility that cuts across many municipalities and counties in a given metro area.