Little-Known Special Districts Cater to Variety of Needs : Services: The jurisdictions are touted as accessible, responsive. Yet, few know about them.

First there were cities, and then came counties. And then, government created special districts.

Nearly everyone who lives in Orange County is served by at least one special district, but few people have a clue as to what they are. The special districts, which are authorized by state legislation and created by a vote of the people, are essentially the rawest form of local government.

“They provide a very specific service to a very specific area,” said Jim Colangelo, executive director of Orange County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees the creation, consolidation or dissolution of special districts. “They can do it better than city or county government because they can be more directed, more efficient.”

California first created special districts in 1887, codifying the state’s tradition of water service being a community affair. Since then, thousands of districts have formed to deal with cemeteries, libraries, parks, sanitation and even mosquitoes.

Dependent districts are those governed by county supervisors or city councils. Independent special districts typically have elected boards of directors who are paid to attend meetings and are responsible for all decisions that affect the district operations.

The districts have always been funded by property taxes and user fees. When Proposition 13 passed in 1978, capping the tax rate at 1% of property value, a special augmentation fund was established to shift some property tax money from schools to special districts. This year’s state budget agreement, however, reverses that shift, taking away 35% of the districts’ tax revenue or 10% of their total budget, whichever is less.

Originally, the districts were established to bring services to developing areas which had not yet become cities or counties. As cities multiplied, though, some residents fought to retain the districts because of their accountability and manageability.

“Washington has no idea what’s going on out here; they’re just too far from the scene,” said Norm Anderson of Laguna Beach, who has been on the South Coast Water board of directors for two decades. “You have to have people from the local areas that know the concerns, to bring the concerns into reality.”

There are nearly 200 directors of these various districts in Orange County alone. Most are elected to four-year terms and are paid.

“These are really community-oriented people,” said Catherine Smith, deputy director of the California Special Districts Assn. “They’re really grass-rootsy types of people.”

They typically receive about $100 per meeting, and their meetings last “up to five hours at busy times, other times only 16 minutes,” Colangelo said.

The highest-paying special district seats in the county are:

* Yorba Linda County Water, $125 for each of two board meetings a month, plus $125 for committee meetings (typically two a month), plus $50 for any other meetings--City Council, Planning Commission, other water agencies--up to 10 a month, for a maximum of as much as $1,000 a month.

* Irvine Ranch Water, $159 per meeting up to 10 meetings a month. There are at least two board meetings and one committee meeting each month--often as many as five meetings.

* Orange County Municipal Water, $147 each day the director does district business, up to six days a month.

* El Toro Water, $144 a meeting, up to 10 each month. There are typically four meetings a month. The district also sets a $2,500 cap for yearly expenses for each board member.

Money “really isn’t a concern,” said Anderson, who gets $125 per meeting for his work on the South Coast County Water district. “My time, I feel, is certainly worth far more.”

In other districts, the compensation is basically just a stipend: Santiago County Water, for example, pays its directors $50 for board or committee meetings, for a total of about 18 meetings a year.

The Cypress Recreation Commission’s seven appointed members get $25 a month, whether they meet once or a dozen times. And San Juan Capistrano City Council members get paid only $10 for a meeting for their dual roles as directors of the Capistrano Valley Water district.

The library districts are not allowed to pay their trustees, according to legislation in 1919 that established library districts.

Many people around the county have served as special district directors for years. Incumbents are often unopposed as residents either remain unaware that there are such things as special districts, or assume that those who are on the water board will always be on the water board.