Talk:Special district (United States)

Error?
I think it is an error to describe the PANYNJ as a "special-purpose district"; the PA is not a district, although it does have a special purpose, and operates subject to an interstate compact approved by Congress. 18.24.0.120 07:29, 31 Dec 2003 (UTC)


 * Thanks. May be you can add an explanation of interstate compact in this or a separate article? - Patrick 20:30, 31 Dec 2003 (UTC)


 * I have created a new interstate compact page. 18.24.0.120 17:47, 31 Jan 2004 (UTC)

as an aside, many special districts had the ability to opt into a 457 Deferred Comp program in lieu of Social Security.--Billymac00 (talk) 14:42, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

Only interstate compacts require federal approval. Special districts crossing state lines do not. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gadickson (talk • contribs) 14:41, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

The list of Supreme Court cases is a dumb idea
Please see What Wikipedia is not. Wikipedia is not an indiscriminate collection of random information! The list of cases is totally useless to ordinary laypersons, who have no idea how to read a legal case (this is why I get to bill hundreds of dollars per hour to figure out the law for the paying non-lawyer clientele).

The list is also useless to attorneys, who would refer to a treatise or handbook on local government law if they need to get a quick overview of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence on special districts.

If no one gives me a good reason for that list soon, I'm going to delete it. --Coolcaesar (talk) 19:56, 11 October 2009 (UTC)


 * Um, actually, there are a LOT of books and articles on this topic; I just haven't bothered to look them up myself because this topic is not a high priority for me (I have bigger fish to fry, like Lawyer and Law of the United States). Try searching for "special district" on Google Books.  Also, consider learning how to use WorldCat.
 * Also, again, a random list of cases isn't very useful. What's more useful is a real article that actually summarizes the law as developed by those cases, with links to the decisions as footnotes.  See my work on the duty of care article for an example.  --Coolcaesar (talk) 12:37, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

I am planning on doing such an article. I'll probably have time in the last half of December. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 148.129.71.53 (talk) 17:06, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

)

District lists
There are lists of municipal governnments, school districts, but I can't find any lists of special purpose districts. Where are they? TMLutas (talk) 05:20, 21 February 2013 (UTC)

The US Census Bureau maintains a database of special districts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.45.183.116 (talk) 18:21, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

Where does power derive
Since this is a strictly American article, I would think that some reference to the Declaration of Independence should be made; that government derives its power from the people. The people delegate to the state certain powers. (The state delegated to the federal government certain rights). A bottom-up system. There is nothing in this article that would seem to contradict the ancient system of divine right of kings, with the exception of the possible renaming of the "king" and the absence of God. Student7 (talk) 19:34, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

You have hit the nail on the head (about kings and special districts). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.45.183.116 (talk) 18:22, 18 November 2013 (UTC)

This is a little far afield for the topic. Systems of land tenure and basis of property rights and their origins vary from place to place in the United States. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wwengr (talk • contribs) 14:14, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Functions
I am deleting the following text from this section: "Most of these functions can also be provided by private companies. Basic Capitalist theory holds that the privatization of public infrastructure and services often results in lower quality and higher prices. Furthermore, as most special districts provide only a single service, privatization of these functions is vulnerable to monopolization. As a result, there are many examples of successful remunicipalization efforts around the world, including in Paris and Buenos Aires."

At best, these statements are controversial. The "Capitalist theory" idea doesn't seem to follow the larger body of economic philosophy. While it may hold true in some cases, I haven't found anything that constructs a coherent theory of it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Wwengr (talk • contribs) 14:22, 6 September 2015 (UTC)

Proposed page move
Since the usual term is "special district," and since the person who picked the name "special-purpose district" didn't cite a source for that name when starting the article, I suggest moving the article to "Special district (United States)" or something similar. Doctor Whom (talk) 20:23, 15 July 2016 (UTC)