Private Governments or Public Policy Tools? The Law and Public Policy of New Jersey's Special Improvement Districts

Abstract

Business improvement districts (BIDs)—special districts usually governed by business and property owners—have been portrayed by some observers as private governments serving narrow commercial interests and by others as policy tools—instruments employed by states and general-purpose local governments to mobilize resources and advance public purposes. We use data from case law, case studies of local practices, and a statewide survey of New Jersey's BIDs to argue that they can best be understood as genuine public-private partnerships that serve simultaneously as instruments of public policy which advance general public interests and as self-help entities which serve more particular interests.