Special districts (also known as special service districts, special district governments, limited purpose entities, or special-purpose districts in the United States) are independent, special-purpose governmental units that exist separately from local governments such as county, municipal, and township governments. They have a lot of independence in their administration and funding. They are created to do a single task or a many similar tasks. The U.S. Census Bureau says that school districts aren't "special district governments". In 2007, the U.S. had more than 37,000 special district governments.