Incorporation
Introduction
El Dorado Hills is an unincorporated community in El Dorado Hills.
Serious efforts to incorporate El Dorado Hills began in 1997, when a group called the El Dorado Hills Incorporation Committee presented their plan to the organization known as LAFCO (Local Agency Formation Commission).
The effort continued until it was halted by LAFCO in August 2002.
LAFCO and the El Dorado Hills incorporation efforts
After World War II, when California was growing at a tremendous pace, much of the state’s agricultural land was converted quickly and without proper planning into cities that were often not self-supporting. Then-Governor Edmund G. Brown appointed the Commission on Metropolitan Area Problems to make recommendations on “the misuse of land resources” and the growing complexity of overlapping, local governmental jurisdictions. In 1963, the Legislature created LAFCO agencies (one for every California county except San Francisco) to deal with the problem.
The LAFCO agencies review proposals for the formation of new local governmental agencies and changes of organization in existing agencies, and they also have the power to approve or disapprove proposals concerning the formation of cities and special districts.
Planning efforts toward a vote on “cityhood"
After about two years of discussions and planning efforts between the El Dorado Hills Incorporation Committee and the El Dorado County LAFCO, a document titled “Public Review Draft: Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis (CFA) of the Proposed Incorporation of El Dorado Hills (March 16, 2000)” was completed.
Planning continued into 2001, at which point incorporation was targeted to appear on the November 2002 ballot. Deliverables and timelines were established that were supposed to get the effort to the final citizen vote. The deliverables required to get the issue on the ballot included an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and a final CFA.
As the planning efforts continued, there were a number of disputes over the precise definition of the documents required and who would pay for what. Some of these discussions also involved the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors.
On March 13, 2001, a note in a LAFCO Summary of Events indicates that the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors “failed to authorize transfer [of funds] for the CFA,” and that work would stop on March 14.
On March 28, 2001, an extension of the deadline is noted “until June 30 to complete application.”
Another note on May 23 mentions that “[LAFCO] requires $234K [to cover the cost of the required documents] by July 1 and accepts the timeline for November 2002 election.”
On June 27, the entry in the Summary of Events states “Eighteen month time extension granted to complete application. Work to resume when funding submitted.”
On August 22, 2001, after the July 1 deadline had not been met, LAFCO rescinded the extension and closed the project.
The incorporation committee sues LAFCO
In August 22, 2002, as reported in articles in both Village Life and the Mountain Democrat the El Dorado Hills Incorporation Committee filed a lawsuit in El Dorado County Superior Court claiming that LAFCO “violated its civil rights and grossly mismanaged the process for determining whether to permit a community within the county to become a city.”
The articles further reported that the lawsuit alleged that “LAFCO drove up the costs of applying for incorporation as a city until the association was bled dry of funds.”
A press release issued by the Incorporation Committee shortly after the lawsuit was filed indicated that the committee sought to vindicate its rights and bring the issues of El Dorado Hills cityhood to a vote. In addition, the committee sought the return of all money already paid to LAFCO, at least $85,000, because LAFCO’s refusal to move forward in a timely manner caused those funds to be wasted.