Local Government in The United States - Councils or Associations of Governments

Councils or Associations of Governments

It is common for residents of major U.S. metropolitan areas to live under six or more layers of special districts as well as a town or city, and a county or township. In turn, a typical metro area often consists of several counties, several dozen towns or cities, and a hundred (or more) special districts. In one state, California, the fragmentation problem became so bad that in 1963 the California Legislature created Local Agency Formation Commissions in 57 of the state's 58 counties; that is, government agencies to supervise the orderly formation and development of other government agencies. One effect of all this complexity is that victims of government negligence occasionally sue the wrong entity and do not realize their error until the statute of limitations has run against them.

Because efforts at direct consolidation have proven futile, U.S. local government entities often form "councils of governments," "metropolitan regional councils," or "associations of governments." These organizations serve as regional planning agencies and as forums for debating issues of regional importance, but are generally powerless relative to their individual members. Since the late 1990s, "a movement, frequently called 'New Regionalism,' accepts the futility of seeking consolidated regional governments and aims instead for regional structures that do not supplant local governments."