At their meeting this Tuesday, October 16th, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors will vote on the Panhandle Tax Exchange agreement with the City of Sacramento. If approved, this will send the issue to LAFCO, the Local Agency Formation Commission for Sacramento. LAFCO (where Supervisor Sue Frost also serves as a commissioner) will have the final say on approval of this annexation of property and the tax agreement.
[emailpetition id=”2″]Initially, the annexation was approved by the Board on May 18, 2010. This was not just for the panhandle, but the heavily developed “Pan” area as well.The City never completed the annexation process with the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo), but is now acting to complete the process and is updating the Tax Exchange Agreement with the County.
In the original Agreement, the City provided compensation to Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District for $18,000 per year from the City’s share of existing base property tax revenue for a period of five years, which was approximately the amount of property tax the District received prior to annexation. After the five year period, the District would no longer receive compensation from the City.
The new Agreement reflects $2,500 per year for five years, and nothing after the five years.
The District’s concerns are:
- If the “Handle” is annexed into the City, the remaining portion known as the “Pan” would remain in the unincorporated area of the County while the property surrounding would be part of the City’s jurisdiction creating an “island”. The creation of an island is not consistent with LAFCo policy.
- The City may request to annex the “Pan” at a later date, which would impact the property revenues the District receives.
The property tax revenues for the “Pan” comprise approximately 40 percent of the Districts revenues. - The City’s payment of $2,500 for five year to the District is not acceptable.
- The District is requesting to not be detached and “…continue to be the service provider as well as generate property tax for the entire area known as the “Panhandle” until such time the development within our District boundaries is equal to or exceeds the revenue through new development projects.”
As of now, The County and City have negotiated the tax Agreement, which includes funding to the District of $2,500 for five years.
The BOS meeting agenda states the position of the County is that the $2,500 per year compensation for five years to the District is equitable, since it is undeveloped land and equivalent to the property taxes generated from the “Handle” now. It does not take into consideration the lost revenue post-development. It also does not account for the forced surrender of property from an independent district, which could be precedent setting for the entire state. The County is washing it’s hands of the District’s issue, stating that the issue regarding District boundary will be part of the LAFCo process.
Once the Board adopts the agreement, the City will proceed with the annexation process with LAFCo.
The most important point to acknowledge here, is that all the RLERPD wants is to not be detached as park service provider to the panhandle. That’s all.
The City of Sacramento say they are a full-service city, and they provide all the services for Sacramento, but the reality is not that cut and dried.
Fulton-El Camino Parks and Rec provides park services for the City. The Sacramento County Sheriff provides law enforcement in certain areas of the city. Metro Fire and Sac City Fire have areas of overlap.
Please take the time to sign this letter of protest, so that it can be emailed to the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors before their meeting on Tuesday. Show the City AND the County that our community will not be bullied and allow the City to take property and revenue that our community has been caretaking for many, many years.
Dear County Supervisor,
As a concerned resident of the Rio Linda Elverta community I would like to let you know our thoughts and feelings regarding the proposed Annexation of the Panhandle area and tax agreement that has been discussed with the City of Sacramento and Sacramento County officials.
Detachment:
- The Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District jurisdiction can remain in place as the provider of recreation and park services in the Handle even if the City of Sacramento’s annexation is approved.
- All parties are interested in the development of the Handle. It does not matter which government entity actually is responsible for the development of the land. We feel that the detachment is unnecessary as our Park District does a superior job in the delivery of services.
- Our Park District is very important to our community and, as a resident, I am concerned about the issue of Park solvency and jurisdiction and ability to provide services to residents (both current and future).
Service Provider:
- The Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District has never closed any parks, nor have they failed to maintain their community parks in beautiful condition. They have always been responsive to the community and provide many programs, services, and special events at a low and reasonable cost. The residents of the Panhandle would be very well served by the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District as we have been.
- The City of Sacramento’s Parks Dept. was forced to close many parks and pools during the recession. Even today, the City cannot afford to maintain the parks they have and rely on volunteers at Land Park and McKinley Park, to name just two. The City clearly isn’t in a position to provide services to new residents as the Handle gets developed.
Proposed Tax Agreement:
- The current tax agreement provides the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District with approximately 1% of the property tax for the next five (5) years based on the current undeveloped land. This translates into a $2500.00 payment per year for five (5) years. At the end of the five (5) year period, the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District will no longer receive any property tax revenue.
- The Panhandle has been part of the Park District land since before they became a Special District. To be shut out from property tax revenue after five (5) years and to only receive an amount for undeveloped land is insufficient for our Park District.
- While the Handle may appear to be only a drop in the bucket, the potential for this land as it is developed presents large opportunities for the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District.
There is no reason to detach the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Park District as the Service Provider for any portion of the Panhandle and doing so could impact their revenues and services negatively.
Please consider voting “NO” on the proposed tax agreement with the City of Sacramento.
Sincerely,
Rio Linda Elverta Resident
