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Something I've tweeted about before, but bears repeating with a different example.
The count of special districts from the Census of Governments is necessarily an undercount because it doesn't incorporate dependent special districts (those without sufficient autonomy). 1/
The count of special districts from the Census of Governments is necessarily an undercount because it doesn't incorporate dependent special districts (those without sufficient autonomy). 1/
A good example: New York.
According to the 2017 Census of Governments, NY has 1,185 independent special districts. According to NYS, there's 2,112 with the plurality being fire districts (864).
2/
According to the 2017 Census of Governments, NY has 1,185 independent special districts. According to NYS, there's 2,112 with the plurality being fire districts (864).
2/
Plot twist: Towns can create special districts that are wholly dependant on the town. CoG would consider these dependent and not part of the official CoG count. There are 6,927 of these town special districts as of 2010 and undoubtedly more now.
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If we add these all up, we get 9,039 special districts in NYS (at a minimum), 7,854 more than what CoG reports.
This isn't a knock against the CoG. The definitions are there to make cross state comparisons. But the CoG numbers are rarely the end of the story.
4/4
This isn't a knock against the CoG. The definitions are there to make cross state comparisons. But the CoG numbers are rarely the end of the story.
4/4
