page_title: Local government in California
section_title: Special districts
hierarchical_section_title: Local government in California / Special districts
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of Lake Sonoma on Dry Creek in Sonoma County, California, USA. The lake is impounded by Warm Springs Dam, constructed in 1983 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for flood control and water supply. The dam is just off to the right and is not visible in this picture. View is to the northwest. Coordinates: 38°43′8.04″N 123°0′47.62″W﻿ / ﻿38.7189°N 123.0132278°W
context_page_description: California has an extensive system of local government that manages public functions throughout the state. Like most states, California is divided into counties, of which there are 58 covering the entire state. Most urbanized areas are incorporated as cities, though not all of California is within the boundaries of a city. School districts, which are independent of cities and counties, handle public education. Many other functions, especially in unincorporated areas, are handled by special districts, which include municipal utility districts, transit districts, health care districts, vector control districts, and geologic hazard abatement districts.
  Due to geographical variations in property tax and sales tax revenue and differing attitudes towards priorities, there are variations in the levels of various services from one city to the next.
  Article 2, Section 6, of California's constitution provides that elections for county, city, school, and judicial offices are officially non-partisan and political party affiliations are not included on local election ballots.
context_section_description: A special district is defined as "any agency of the state for the local performance of governmental or proprietary functions within limited boundaries" and provides a limited range of services within a defined geographic area.  Most of California's special districts are single-purpose districts, and provide one service. Most special districts have no police powers.
  Independent special districts have elected boards. Dependent special districts are governed by the city or county that created them. Regional bodies have boards appointed by the city and county governments they encompass. Some districts, often referred to as assessment districts, have voting based on the assessed values of the property contained within the district, rather than a popular vote; that practice was ruled constitutional for districts that provide benefits to the land in rough proportion to the value of the land, rather than to people within the district.
  Districts are categorized as enterprise districts and non-enterprise districts. Enterprise districts operate as a business, and obtain most of their revenue from user fees or sales of a product or service.  Enterprise districts include those that provide water, waste disposal, electric power, hospitals, public transit, and similar services.
  The most common type of special district is the utility district, which provides public utility services to residents within the district boundaries. Among the largest of these are the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, which provides electric power in the Sacramento area, the Metropolitan Water District, which provides water to local water agencies in the Los Angeles area, and the Imperial Irrigation District, which provides water for agriculture and electric power in Imperial County.
  Another very common type of special district is the transit agency, which provides public transportation.  The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority provides bus and train services and funds some transportation projects, including bicycle paths, HOV lanes, and other road improvements.  By contrast, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District only operates a commuter rail service and buses to locations beyond the range of the rail service.
  There are at least 3,000 special districts, and possibly as many as 5,000, depending on how they are counted. Special districts spend over $26 billion each year (over $700 per person in California), though some significant amount of that is double-counted as some districts subsidize or purchase services from others.
  A partial list of the types of special districts includes:
  Air pollution control districts
  Air quality management districts
  Airport districts
  Bridge or highway districts 
  California water districts
  Mello-Roos (community facilities districts)
  Community services districts
  County sanitation districts
  County service areas
  County water districts
  County waterworks districts
  Fire protection districts
  Harbor and port districts
  Health care districts
  Improvement districts
  Irrigation districts
  Joint power agencies
  Joint highway districts
  Library districts
  Metropolitan water districts
  Mosquito abatement districts 
  Municipal utility districts
  Municipal water districts
  Permanent road divisions
  Pest control districts
  Police protection districts
  Public cemetery districts
  Public utility districts
  Reclamation districts
  Recreation and park districts
  Redevelopment agencies
  Resource conservation districts
  Sanitary districts
  Separation of grade districts
  Service zones of special districts
  Sewer districts
  Sewer maintenance districts
  Special assessment districts
  Transit or rapid transit districts
  Unified or union high school library districts
  Vector control districts
caption: Lake Sonoma, a reservoir of the Sonoma County Water Agency
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