Final answer:
Metropolitan areas use various strategies to address fiscal challenges, including the creation of special districts for specific services, and annexing outlying areas to expand their tax base and distribute costs more efficiently.
Step-by-step explanation:
The correct answer is C:
As both the creation of special districts and the annexation of outlying areas are methods metropolitan areas use to meet fiscal challenges.
Metropolitan areas face a variety of fiscal challenges as they strive to provide essential services to residents. To tackle these issues, local governments often employ strategies such as creating special districts or annexing outlying areas. Special districts are unique governmental units formed to address specific functions that city or county governments might struggle with due to high population densities and increased demand for services. Examples include school districts and utility districts. These districts can help manage the responsibilities and finances of an area by focusing on a particular service or need. Annexation, on the other hand, involves expanding a city's boundaries to include outlying areas. This can increase a city's tax base and help distribute the cost of services across a larger population, theoretically reducing per capita expenses. Both strategies are designed to help alleviate the stress on a city's financial resources and enable more efficient delivery of services to the community.