Districts are controlled by a board of directors, sometimes elected by voters but sometimes appointed by the legislature or the governing body of a local city or county. If you are taking this class from a community college, your college is a special- purpose district – a community college district created by the state legislature and funded mostly by an ad valorem tax levied on property within the district boundaries.
Special purpose districts are governmental entities with specific geographic boundaries that are created to provide specific services such as drainage, water and sewer service, or firefighting. Districts can be created by the Texas Legislature, by local governmental bodies, or sometimes by a state agency.
They hire a superintendent to run the day-to-day operations of the school district. The board of trustees sets the district property tax rate, approves the salary schedule for teachers and staff, and approve contracts for the construction and maintenance of school facilities and equipment. School districts are also transportation and food-service providers – often massive ones. The Houston Independent School District serves more than 269,000 meals and transports approximately 36,000 students to and from school on a fleet of nearly 1000 buses every school day.
Special Districts in Texas. Authored by: Andrew Teas. License: CC BY: Attribution
How does a special district function after organization? A special district is a quasi-municipal corporation and political subdivision of the State of Colorado and must comply with the open meeting laws, public bidding requirements, any restrictions in its Service Plan, public budget law and public audit requirements.
What is a special district? A special district is a quasi-municipal corporation and political subdivision of the State of Colorado formed to provide necessary public services that the county or municipality cannot otherwise provide. It is essentially a tax-exempt financing mechanism used for the installation, ...
The first step in formation of a special district is submittal of a Service Plan to the jurisdiction in which the property is located. The Service Plan is basically like a city charter and sets forth the powers that the district as government entity will have (i.e., the power to provide water, sanitary sewer, street and other public improvements).
A special district is governed by a five or seven member Board of Directors, who are elected by the registered electors within the district to staggered four-year terms. Anyone who is registered to vote in the State of Colorado and resides within the special district or who owns taxable property within the boundaries of ...
Special districts are independent government units created for a limited, specific purpose and, every year, new districts are created and existing ones dissolve. The latest in-depth, encyclopedic count of special districts and all types of local governments in the United States is now available. The latest in-depth, encyclopedic count ...
Multifunction districts can collect property taxes and issue tax-exempt bonds. Legislation authorizing multifunction districts was passed in most states across the nation in the 1980s. For example: In Colorado, the 2017 Census of Governments added close to 270 metropolitan districts to the master list of local governments in the state.
Most of the metropolitan districts in Colorado are development districts created to provide funding for development projects. In Texas, multifunction districts, called Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs), also showed growth. The 2017 Census of Governments added nearly 200 units to the master list of local governments in Texas.
These districts can collect property taxes and issue public debt. That’s why it’s important to keep track of public funds controlled by these districts.
Nationally, Emergency Services Districts (ESD) that provide local fire protection and ambulance services have grown this decade: 150 were created from 2012 to 2017 — 130 of them in Texas.
Some districts are only active for a limited time, usually as long as it takes to pay back a debt.
In some cases, states create them to provide services to newly- developed geographic areas. In other cases, the special purpose activity or services already exist, but residents expect a higher level of quality. For example, a state may have fire protection services.
A form of government in which an elected city council makes laws and hires a professional administrator who is responsible for both executing council policies and managing the day-to-day operations of city government and who serves at the pleasure of the council
Local governments that provide single or closely related services that are not provided by general-purpose county or municipal governments
An election system in which members of city councils are elected in at-large elections and the number of votes a voter can cast corresponds to the number of seats on the council
An incorporated community with a population of 5,000 or fewer that is limited in the subject matter upon which it may legislate
A federal or state requirement that a lower level of government, like a city or county , provide a service or meet certain standards, often as a condition for receiving financial aid
A form of municipal government consisting of a mayor and a city council; this form includes both strong-mayor and weak-mayor variations
The vast majority of Texas cities- about 75% are general-law cities
v. Friend, lower courts split over which test to apply in determining a corporation’s principal place of business. Some used a “business activity” or “muscle” test, which is very fact-intensive. Others used a “nerve center” test, which looks to where a corporation makes decisions, usually its headquarters. In Hertz, the Supreme Court chose the nerve center test. Since Bisney is run out of Orlando, its principal place of business is Florida, thus defeating diversity.
Discussion: No, not completely. The scope of diversity jurisdiction under the Constitution is broader than it is under 1332 (a). The Constitution does not mandate an amount in controversy requirement. Nor does it require complete diversity; instead, “minimal” diversity is sufficient (which exists here because there is at least one diverse party on each side of the suit). But even though the Constitution is not violated here, subject-matter jurisdiction is lacking because the diversity statute is not met for two reasons. First, the parties are not completely diverse. Even though D1 is diverse (Georgia), there are citizens of Florida on both sides of the suit. Second, the amount in controversy does not exceed $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. Note that the “complete diversity” requirement is a judicial interpretation of the diversity statute; it’s also known as the Strawbridge rule. (Note that for class actions, the diversity statute may permit subject-matter jurisdiction in certain cases where there is minimal diversity and where the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million. See 1332 (d).)
Discussion: Under the 2011 revisions, subject-matter jurisdiction is inappropriate. Go through the listings in 1332 (a) and you will see that none of them permit a suit between two aliens in the absence of citizens of different States. This comports with the Constitution, which also does not appear to provide federal courts with jurisdiction over state-law claims between aliens. See Article III. Compare the pre-2011 version of 1332 (a), which categorically stated at the bottom of 1332 (a) (1)- (4) that “an alien admitted to the United States for permanent residence shall be deemed a citizen of the State in which such alien is domiciled.” The former version was intended only to divest jurisdiction, preventing a suit between a citizen of a state and an LPR domiciled in the same state. (Example: citizen of Florida versus LPR domiciled in Florida.) Apparently, nobody contemplated that the former language might create diversity in a suit between an LPR domiciled in state A and an LPR domiciled in state B. Thus, on its face, the former language would treat Pierre as a citizen of Florida, and Hans a citizen of New York, thus satisfying 1332 (a) (1). This is troubling: under these facts, the former statute may well have been unconstitutional because nothing in Article III appears to permit a state-law suit in federal court between aliens. This is why 1332 was amended in 2011, to cure the apparent unconstitutionality of 1332 as applied to such facts.
Discussion: Yes. Section 1332 (a) (3) permits subject-matter jurisdiction when the suit is between “citizens of different States and in which citizens or subjects of a foreign state are additional parties.” The suit is now between citizens of two States (Betty and Veronica) in which citizens of one or more foreign countries are additional parties (Pierre and Hans). Variation: what if Veronica was not in the suit? Answer: diversity will be lacking over the Pierre v. Hans portion of the suit. Why?
Inadequate tax bases and competing demands for existing taxes make it hard for cities and counties to provide all the services their citizens desire. When residents or landowners want new services or higher levels of existing services, they can form a district to pay for and administer them.
Special districts are a form of local government created by a community to meet a specific need. Inadequate tax bases and competing demands for existing taxes make it hard for cities and counties to provide all the services their citizens desire. When residents or landowners want new services or higher levels of existing services, they can form a district to pay for and administer them. Nearly 85% of California’s special districts perform a single function such as sewage, water, fire protection, pest abatement, or cemetery management. Multi-function districts, like community services districts, provide two or more services. These local agencies are directly accountable to their residents and they are passionate about providing high-quality services and resources in the most efficient and effective manner
To learn more about special districts, the various types of services they provide, and just what makes them so special, visit CSDA’s online Districts Make the Difference public outreach campaign at www.districtsmakethedifference.org . To see what special districts serve your local community, check out the most comprehensive and interactive online map of California special districts through the Special Districts Mapping Project at www.csda.net/special-districts/map .