ABOUT
LAFCO
Legislative Authority:
Established by
State Law in 1963, the San Diego Local
Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) is a regulatory agency with quasi-legislative
authority. While having county-wide jurisdiction, LAFCO is independent of county
government. LAFCOs were designed to provide assistance to local agencies in
overseeing jurisdictional boundary changes. LAFCOs are governed by the
Cortese/Knox/Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Government
Code Section 56000, et seq.).
General Purpose and Responsibilities:
LAFCO is responsible for coordinating, directing, and
overseeing logical and timely changes to local governmental boundaries, including
annexation and detachment of territory, incorporation of cities, formation of special
districts, and consolidation, merger, and dissolution of districts. In addition,
LAFCO is charged with reviewing ways to reorganize, simplify, and streamline governmental
structure.
A primary objective of LAFCO is to initiate studies and
furnish information that contributes to the logical and reasonable development of public
agencies. In 1994, LAFCOs were given the authority to initiate proposals involving
district consolidation, dissolution, subsidiary district establishment, merger, and
reorganization (combinations of the above jurisdictional changes).
Commission
Goals:
-
Encourage
orderly growth
-
Promote
logical and efficient public services for cities and special districts
-
Streamline
governmental structure
-
Discourage
premature conversion of prime agricultural and open space lands to urban
uses
Spheres of Influence:
The Commission also is obligated to develop and adopt spheres of
influence for each city and special district within the county. A sphere of
influence is defined as a "plan for the probable physical boundaries and service area
of a local government agency as determined by the Commission" (Government
Code Section 56076). Spheres are characterized as planning tools used to provide
guidance for individual proposals involving jurisdictional changes, and are intended to
encourage efficient provision of organized community services and prevent duplication of
service delivery. Territory must be within a city or district's sphere in order to
be annexed. Periodically, spheres may be amended, but are required to be updated
every five years.
Municipal
Service Review:
A Municipal Service Review
(MSR) is a study that
must be conducted under the provisions of State Law to determine the adequacy of
governmental services being provided in the region or sub-region (Government
Code Section 56430). Developing and updating spheres of influence and performing
service reviews for each city and special district within the county is a priority for the
San Diego LAFCO. These studies may be used by LAFCO, other governmental agencies,
and the public to better understand and improve provision of services. Specifically,
service reviews are required to address:
ü
Growth
and population projections for the affected area.
ü
Present
and planned capacity of public facilities and adequacy of public services,
including infrastructure needs or deficiencies.
ü
Financial
ability of agencies to provide services.
ü
Status
of, and opportunities for, shared facilities.
ü
Accountability
for community service needs, including governmental structure and operational
efficiencies.
ü
Any
other matter related to effective or efficient service delivery, as required
by commission policy.
Funding:
The enactment of the
Cortese/Knox/Hertzberg
Act of 2000 brought about major changes to LAFCO funding. To encourage autonomy,
the new legislation requires that all cities, independent special districts, and the
county share in funding LAFCO activities. This method of financial allocation
reinforces LAFCO's independence and ensures that no single agency or class of agencies can
control the policy direction of the Commission.
San Diego LAFCO:
The San Diego LAFCO was the first commission in
California to utilize its consolidation authority and in 1998 was recognized by the
California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions (CALAFCO) as the most
effective commission. Since 1988, San Diego LAFCO has streamlined government
services in the County by consolidating 83 special districts. Each year, the
Commission deliberates on approximately 75 annexation and detachment proposals involving
city and special district boundary changes as well as about 12 requests for contractual
service agreements to extend public services. In 2002 and 2004, the San Diego LAFCO was
again honored by receiving CALAFCO's "Most Effective Commission" award.
Membership and Meetings:
San Diego LAFCO consists of eight regular members:
two members from the Board of Supervisors, two city representatives, one City of San Diego
representative, two special district representatives, and one public member, who is
appointed by the other members of the Commission. There are five alternates to the
regular members; one for each category. Alternate Commissioners can vote only in the
absence or disqualification of regular Commissioners. All Commissioners are
appointed to four-year terms.
