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Special Districts
Fire, cemetery, library, hospital, and highway districts: the small governing bodies that deliver most of what residents experience and that almost nobody watches.
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01
The Volunteer Who Cannot Be Replaced
Every small district has one person holding it together without pay. The board's obligation is not gratitude. It is to end the arrangement that made one person indispensable.
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02
Working With the District Next Door
Shared arrangements between neighbouring districts are the most available answer to declining capacity and the least used, because the obstacles are historical rather than practical.
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03
The Districts Nobody Watches
Fire, cemetery, library, hospital, and highway districts hold taxing authority and deliver services people cannot do without. Most residents cannot name their board members, and most seats are uncontested.