SPECIAL DISTRICTS OUTSTRIP OLD-STYLE MUNICIPALITIES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 11, 1993                   TAG: 9302110268
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium
SPECIAL DISTRICTS OUTSTRIP OLD-STYLE MUNICIPALITIES
Special-purpose districts to collect garbage, move commuters, fight fires and perform other jobs now greatly outnumber traditional municipal governments, the Census Bureau said Wednesday.
The rapid growth in such nontraditional governments places billions of dollars outside the normal political controls faced by mayors and other city officials.
Altogether, there are 33,131 special-purpose governments, compared to 19,296 municipalities.
And the number of special purpose governments is exploding - up 12 percent in the past five years. The number of municipal governments increased by barely half a percent.
"We're having essentially unaccountable public authorities and special districts growing like mad all over the country," said Donald Axelrod, professor emeritus of public administration at the State University of New York in Albany.
"Many are transparent devices for getting around constitutions that prohibit borrowing without public referenda and all the other restrictions."
Special-purpose districts are set up by cities, towns and counties to do specific jobs. They often cut across municipal boundaries.
They range in size from such giants as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to small rural volunteer fire departments.
One in five manages natural resources, and one in six fights fires. Thousands of others manage housing and community development, run water or sewage systems, maintain parks and operate libraries.
\ GOVERNMENT FACTS\ FROM 1990 CENSUS FIGURES\ \ Number of governments in the United States: 86,743.
\ Change in five years: up 4 percent, mainly due to more special-purpose governments.
\ Change in 40 years, down 26 percent, mainly due to fewer independent school districts.
\ Average number of governments per state: 1,734.
\ Most governed state: Illinois, 6,809 governments.
\ Least governed state: Hawaii, 20 governments.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB