The act allows any county, city, special district, school district or joint powers of authority to establish a "Community Facitlities District" which allows for the financing of public services and facilities. The services and facilities Mello-Roos Districts can provide include streets, police protection, fire protection, ambulatory, elementrary schools, parks, libraries, museums, and cultural facilities.
The Mello-Roos (named for its legislative sponsors) Community Facilities District Act of 1982 established another method whereby almost every municipal subdivision of the state may form a special, separate district to finance a long list of public facilities by the sale of bonds and/or to finance certain public services on a "pay-as-you-go" basis. These Community Facilities Districts are formed and bond issues are authorized by a two-thirds vote of the property owners in the district.