Special district governments are independent, special-purpose
governmental units (other than school district governments),
that exist as separate entities with substantial administrative
and fiscal independence from general-purpose local governments.
As defined for Census Bureau statistics on governments, the term
"special district governments" excludes school district
governments. Special district governments provide specific
services that are not being supplied by existing general-purpose
governments. Most perform a single function, but in some
instances their enabling legislation allows them to provide
several, usually related, types of services. The services
provided by these districts range from such basic social needs
as hospitals and fire protection to the less conspicuous tasks
of mosquito abatement and upkeep of cemeteries. The Census
Bureau classification of special district governments covers a
wide variety of entities, most of which are officially called
districts or authorities. Not all public ag