Contract city 4629390 151872022 2007-08-17T18:18:30Z 65.223.58.196 '''Contract city''' is a term used in the [[U.S. state]] of [[California]] for a [[city]] which has a [[contract]] with another agency or private organization for various governmental services. Contracting for services has been accomplished in several different methods. In the traditional method, ''franchising'', a private company has a [[government-granted monopoly|franchise]], or legal right, to perform certain public services usually done by local government. This generally includes garbage collection and water services. Cities have also traditionally entered into contracts for certain services incidental to government, such as facilities and grounds maintenance, auditing, legal counsel, road construction, and engineering services. However, no city had contracted with another governmental entity for basic governmental services such as police, fire, libraries, or parks. In [[1954]], [[Lakewood, California]] became the first contract city in the [[United States]]. The previously [[unincorporated area]] was facing a hostile annexation from adjacent [[Long Beach, California]], and residents favored local control while maintaining the existing services provided by County government. The so-called '''Lakewood Plan''' has been the foundation for most new cities incorporated in California since then. In contrast, '''independent cities''' are cities which provide basic governmental services themselves, without contracting. (This usage is not to be confused with the more common usage of [[independent city]] as a city that is not part of any [[County (United States)|county]].) Most older cities are independent cities. In practice, many cities are hybrids of both. For instance, they may directly operate parks programs, but contract for police and fire. Most contract cities do their own [[land use planning]], since cities were incorporated to exert local control over land use. ==External links== *[http://www.contractcities.org/index.cfm?Page=History Contract City history] *[http://www.contractcities.org California Contract Cities Association] *[http://www.icacities.org/ Independent Cities Association] [[Category:Cities in California| ]]