Last Sunday, John Oliver spent nearly his entire episode on Donald Trump as he vies for Republican nomination for the upcoming presidential elections. This week, he tackled the exact opposite in terms of government scope: special district. The video was uploaded in the show's official YouTube account.
The comedian host immediately explained about the presence and necessity of Special Districts. They are basically government created districts for specific services. Fire, school, water and even mosquito control could the focus of a specific special district. Through these special districts certain services that may not be offered by the government could be introduced.
However, the challenge on these special districts is the lack of accountability and knowledge of their existence. Oliver reported that the state of Idaho even started their special investigation on these districts by first identifying the actual number of these districts. Oliver also reported that 40% of the special districts did not forward any proper budget.
Oliver cites some scathing reports in relation to non-work related spending of the district. A fire department was accused of purchase fireworks, chewing tobacco and pornographic video. Another fire department was also accused of drinking while at work and using the fire department's vehicle as a means of transportation for a party. The video was shown to the fireman where he out rightly denied his actions.
Special districts are even used as a loophole for some businesses. Oliver also cites a story where the uninhabited land became the home of an unknown couple who became the voters of that special district for land development. The feature ends with children talking about the special districts and their discrepancies.
Oliver deemed the discussion about special districts as very important because of the amount spent on these districts. According to Time Oliver notes that, "fire, school and water districts are fairly common, the 50 states of the U.S. are littered with overlapping special districts that take in over $100 billion of tax dollars each year, or $16 billion more than Russia spends on its military."
Watch the full segment here: