ABSTRACT
Community services contribute greatly to the overall quality of life in the United States. The provision of community services to rural areas is a critical ingredient in comprehensive rural development programs. In numerous policy statements since then, the importance of community services to rural development has been reiterated. Major elements of the Rural Development Act of 1972 were directed toward the provision in rural areas of water, sewer, solid waste, and other essential community services. The chapter provides selected theoretical and practical considerations related to the economics of rural community services. It presents a brief history of rural community service programs in the United States. Some aspects of economic theory related to the provision of rural community services. Mobility of people among school districts and states is high. Many rural communities historically have had high net outmigration of local residents and would have had highly unfavorable local benefit-cost ratios if schooling were funded from local district resources alone.
