Answer:

Class,

Special districts are generally authoritative bodies with legislative authority that meet a specific need of a local community with a special focus on a specific set of services such as fire protection, transportation, parks, healthcare, or water (CSDA, 2016). Special districts allow the community to align the needs of residents of all types of communities that range from small neighborhoods to larger municipalities and regions. Since special districts are created and held accountable by the interests of their respective residents, the board members may be appointed by their local elected officials.

Some of the advantages of having special districts include tailoring services to citizen demands, linking taxes or costs of special districts to only those who benefit from the services, and since many special districts are geographically smaller or have few residents than counties or cities, they can be more responsive to its constituents (Mizany & Manatt, 2002).

Some disadvantages include overlapping jurisdictions which can lead to inefficiencies, it can hinder regional planning efforts due to independent governing boards, and a multiplicity of special districts can decrease accountability by making it difficult finding out who oversees what service for residents (Mizany & Manatt, 2002).

Special districts serve as a great benefit to municipal locations that are small and easily managed such as unincorporated areas where their emergency fire and rescue or medical service may have slower than usual response times to the residents that live in that area. In an emergency management aspect, special districts seem to be a hindrance in larger urban areas with emergency management policies already set in place but provide some protection for smaller rural areas