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SUBJECTS › GOVERNANCE › SPECIAL PURPOSE DISTRICTS › Welcome Special Purpose Districts
Published 06/07

Welcome Special Purpose Districts

Contents

Introduction to MRSC Services

The Municipal Research & Services Center (MRSC) will begin providing services to Washington's special purpose districts on July 1, 2007.  In 2006, the legislature expanded the authority of the Municipal Research Council to extend services to special purpose districts (RCW 43.110.080); however, the funding provisions of the bill were not enacted.  In the recently completed legislative session, the legislature appropriated a small amount from the state general fund for the 2007-09 biennium to fund a limited special district program.

MRSC remains committed to providing top quality, timely responses to city and county requests for assistance. Services to cities and counties will not be diminished in any way.  Our goal is to provide high quality services to all local governments. As required by statute, MRSC manages its budgetary resources to insure that cities and counties get their fair share of services according to the resources they provide. We will continue this practice with the addition of state general fund money for special purpose districts. In other words, we use city money for city services, county money for county services, and state money for special purpose districts.

There are over 1700 special purpose districts. Given the potential demand for service and a relatively small appropriation, MRSC will focus on training, publications and the posting of materials on the MRSC web site – which receives over 600,000 visitors per month.

Inquiry Responses from Special Purpose Districts

MRSC staff will respond to a limited number of direct inquiries or requests for advice as resources permit.

  • Written inquiries from special purpose districts should be directed to receptionist@mrsc.org. Include the name of the district you represent, your name and position with the district, and an e-mail address or phone number where you may contacted.  Staff will review requests and choose priority ones for response according the following criteria: preference will be given to smaller districts that do not have the staff resources possessed by larger districts.
  • Staff will only respond to legal inquiries on governance matters since that is the area that special districts have told us is of greatest need. MRSC is not prepared to respond to issues related to the technical content of the programs carried out by special districts.
  • MRSC will favor inquiries where a response has value if shared with a large number of special districts. Responses will be written up and posted on our Web site to build a data base that maximizes the value derived from the special district inquiry program. We also plan to develop a free special district e-newsletter that will summarize selected inquiries of general interest for distribution to special districts. Anyone requesting special district service will be added to the distribution list.

A Web page, Introduction to MRSC Web Info for Special Purpose Districts, has been created to describe MRSC's services and aid access to MRSC's Web pages of interest to Washington's special purpose governments.  The main menu for MRSC's Special districts Web pages is Special Purpose Districts in Washington

Please join us in welcoming special districts to MRSC!