Contract city is a term used in the U.S. state of California for a city which has a contract with another agency or private organization for various governmental services.
Cities of all kinds have traditionally entered into contracts for certain services incidental to government, such as facilities and grounds maintenance, auditing, legal counsel, road construction, and engineering services, but these are not the kinds of contracts that define a contract city. In contrast, contract cities contract for basic governmental services such as police, fire, libraries, and parks.
Contracting for services has been accomplished in several different methods. In the traditional method, franchising, a private company has a franchise, or legal right, to perform certain public services usually done by local government. This generally includes garbage collection and water services. Another method is for the city to contract with its county government.
In 1954, Lakewood, California became the first contract city. The previously unincorporated area was facing a hostile annexation from adjacent Long Beach, California, and residents favored local control while maintaining the existing services provided by County government. The so-called Lakewood Plan has been the foundation for most new cities incorporated in California since then.
In contrast, independent cities are cities which provide basic governmental services themselves, without contracting. (This usage is not to be confused with the more common usage of independent city as a city that is not part of any county.) Most older cities are independent cities. In practice, many cities are hybrids of both. For instance, they may directly operate parks programs, but contract for police and fire. Most contract cities do their own land use planning, since cities were incorporated to exert local control over land use.
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