Special districts established to control mosquitos in parts of Florida claim significantly more funding and expertise than county-run programs, a new analysis finds a new analysis co-authored by a Cornell public health expert.
But because special districts serve geographically limited and typically wealthier areas, they may also contribute to inequities, especially amid declining state and federal funding for public health initiatives.
In Florida, accelerating development and tourism catalyzed the creation of special districts - the first in 1925 - that could levy taxes specifically for mosquito control, independent of other local public health services. As of 2023, special districts ran 18 of 66 state-approved mosquito control programs; counties ran the remainder, while a handful had no coverage.
"The choice to organize mosquito control policy in this way means that there's a lot of inequity in service coverage across the state," said Charley Willison, assistant professor in the Department of Public Ecosystem Health in the College of Veterinary Medicine, and a core faculty fellow in the Cornell Health Policy Center. "Local governments that don't have their own mosquito control board have much lower capacity to provide mosquito control services compared to those that have special districts. And several places across the state have no designated local mosquito control services."
"Draining the Swamp: The Local Governance of Mosquito Borne Diseases in Florida" published in a special issue of Urban Affairs Review
