what is overlapping debt 
overlapping debt refers to the financial obligations of one political jurisdiction that also falls partly on a nearby jurisdiction overlapping debt is common in the u s because most states are divided into numerous jurisdictions for different tax purposes such as building a new public school or building a new road understanding overlapping debtmunicipalities issue debt to raise money from the public to fund capital projects that will benefit residents of the region for example if a city or county decides to build a school airport highway or hospital it will typically issue debt to borrow the funds needed to construct such infrastructure two municipal government bodies may have overlapping jurisdictions such as a state and a city or a city and a county the different jurisdictions may each issue debt in the form of municipal bonds and notes when they need to raise money to pay for these major expenses which are intended to serve all the residents of a political jurisdiction 