States, cities & tribes
special district
A limited-purpose local government: water, fire, transit, library, hospital, mosquito control. There are tens of thousands, and most people cannot name their own.
In full
Special districts have boards, budgets, and often taxing or fee authority, but a single function and boundaries that ignore city and county lines. Their elections draw very low turnout, which makes them both efficient administratively and weakly accountable. They are the largest and fastest-growing category of local government by count.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.