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

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.