National Definition of "Special District"
NSDC leads the effort with key members of Congress to pass legislation defining special purpose units of government. NSDC also actively seeks input from special district stakeholders to ensure this definition broadly represents special districts’ diverse structures and organizations across state lines.
A special district is an independent political subdivision of a State, formed pursuant to general law or special act of the State, for the purpose of performing one or more governmental or proprietary functions. Aside from “special district,” these local governments may also be known as “special purpose district,” “authority,” “municipal authority,” “special purpose governmental entity,” or “special taxing district.”
The U.S. Census Bureau is the clearinghouse of information on state and local government organizations, and routinely measures the American population and local government services. Through efforts to define “special district” in federal law, NSDC is a willing partner and collaborator with the U.S. Census Bureau to ensure the nation’s special purpose governments are accurately counted in represented in local government data. The Coalition seeks to work with the U.S. Census Bureau and Office of Management and Budget adopt definitions of individual district services to improve federal accounting of local governments. NSDC’s ultimate objective is to secure special districts’ designation as a geographic unit of local government, which would allow for special districts to obtain official population figures.
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