A Joint Powers Authority (JPA) is an entity permitted under the laws of some states of the USA, whereby two or more public authorities (e.g. local governments, or utility or transport districts) can operate collectively. Joint Powers Authorities may be used where:
- an activity naturally transcends the boundaries of existing public authorities. An example would be the Transbay JPA, set up to promote the construction of a new transit center in San Francisco, with several transportation boards and counties around the San Francisco Bay Area as members;
- by combining their commercial efforts, public authorities can achieve economies of scale or market power. An example is U.S. Communities, a purchasing consortium of local government agencies.
Joint powers authorities are particularly widely used in California (where they are permitted under Section 6500 of the State Government Code), but they are also found in other states.
A joint powers authority is distinct from the member authorities; they have separate operating boards of directors. These boards can be given any of the powers inherent in all of the participating agencies. The authorizing agreement states the powers the new authority will be allowed to exercise. The term, membership, and standing orders of the board of the authority must also be specified. The joint authority may employ staff and establish policies independently of the constituent authorities.
Joint powers authorities receive existing powers from the creating governments; thus, they are distinct from special districts, which receive new delegations of sovereign power from the state.
Famous quotes containing the words joint, powers and/or authority:
“What’s a joint of mutton or two in a whole Lent?”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“And as the sun above the light doth bring,
Though we behold it in the air below,
So from th’ eternal Light the soul doth spring,
Though in the body she her powers do show.”
—Sir John Davies (1569–1626)
“The members of a body-politic call it “the state” when it is passive, “the sovereign” when it is active, and a “power” when they compare it with others of its kind. Collectively they use the title “people,” and they refer to one another individually as “citizens” when speaking of their participation in the authority of the sovereign, and as “subjects” when speaking of their subordination to the laws of the state.”
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)