Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee Seeks Donations to Meet Critical July 1st LAFCo Deadline

The Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee is trying to raise money to meet a critical deadline set by the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo). The Sacramento Local Agency Formation Commission is a countywide Commission, required in each California county.

The Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee lead by Patricia Cole is organizing and raising money through donations to fund the incorporation efforts and required annexation study. In a recent e-mail to supporters Patricia says, “We’ve raised over $250,000 since we began this process with donations from the community on the upswing during this last phase.” She continues on saying, “In my last e-mail I said we were within $10,000 dollars of our goal. We’ve received donations from residents and business owners ranging from $25 to $1,000 totaling more than $3,000. We’re within $7,000 of our goal, and I know there are more donations coming in over the next couple of days.”

Arden Arcade is the unincorporated 13 square mile area located between Ethan Way on the west and Mission Avenue on the east, north of Fair Oaks Boulevard, and south of Auburn Boulevard. Based on the 2000 Census, the population of Arden Arcade is more than 78,000 persons. There are about 3,000 businesses located in Arden Arcade.

Originally, LAFCo had set a fee of $102,000 to fund the annexation study. Recently, they cut the fees by $12,000 in response to vocal Arden Arcade incorporation supporters. More than 100 supporters from the Arden Arcade area attended the last LAFCo meeting on June 3rd. The new fee will fund a “bare bones” annexation study.

While there are numerous ardent supporters of incorporation in the Arden Arcade area, there are opponents as well. The primary opponents being the City and County of Sacramento and for one selfish reason, tax revenue.

The City of Sacramento recently adopted an amendment to their 2030 General Plan on March 3rd, 2009 to add Arden Arcade as a special study area for annexation. The reason? The potential tax revenue from auto sales on Fulton avenue. The County of Sacramento is throwing up roadblocks on the path to cityhood for much the same reason.

Need more evidence? See the fine print in the 2030 General plan update which reads, “Revise Land Use and Urban Design: Implementation Program #6 as follows: The City shall work with Sacramento County to develop a Master Property Tax sharing agreement for annexation areas.” This can be found on page 152 of 197 on the PDF file of the 2030 General Plan.

This small paragraph of text in the City of Sacramento 2030 General Plan indicates the intentions of the City of Sacramento and County of Sacramento. They plan to annex the Arden Arcade area into the City of Sacramento and share in the tax revenues. Or as the County of Sacramento likes to call it, “Revenue Neutrality”.

This collusion by the Sacramento City Council and Sacramento County Supervisors makes the Arden Arcade Incorporation process much harder as they share seats on LAFCo and are the ones responsible for making the final decision on the fate of the Arden Arcade Incorporation.

Three of the seven LAFCo members are either Sacramento County Supervisors or Sacramento City Council members. Jimmy Yee representing District 2 and Susan Peters representing District 3 and Chair of LAFCo are County Supervisors and Rob Fong is a City Council member. Linda Budge, Rancho Cordova City Council member and former mayor also sits on the Commission along with Public Member Chris Tooker and two Special District members Charles Rose and Gay Jones.

If the Arden Arcade area incorporates much as Rancho Cordova did five years ago the County stands to lose millions in tax revenue. In 2008, property taxes accounted for the largest share of the county’s general fund revenues, 19 percent. In 2010, assessed values are projected to be down by 9 percent. We’ve all read about the budget woes of the City of Sacramento and the County of Sacramento deficit. Now they both stand to lose even more tax revenue if the Arden Arcade area incorporates like Elk Grove, Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova did in the past decade.

According to the process LAFCo has set forth the Incorporation Committee must turn in $89,000 by July 1st in order for the process to continue forward. Patricia has mentioned on her blog that, “the bank may take 5-9 days to clear funds for availability.” According to the calendar nine business days starts today on Thursday, June 18th. In her e-mail Pat makes an urgent plea to the community, “We have just two weeks to receive and process payments. Now is the time to make sure we have a chance to vote on cityhood and block any potential for annexation by the City of Sacramento.” She emphasizes, “there won’t be a second chance.”

As the supporters of incorporation in Rancho Cordova well know the process is long, filled with pitfalls and can be very emotionally trying. There’s no doubt the organizing committee in Rancho Cordova had tremendous support from friends outside the city who were visionary enough to see the benefits of local control and local choice. The Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee is asking for your assistance right now. Patricia continues her plea by saying, “please consider helping us close this gap. Pass this information along to anyone you think can help us and refer them to our website.”

To help support the Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee and the residents of the Arden Arcade area move towards the next step in their effort to incorporate visit their website where you may donate by credit card through PayPal or you may mail a check made out to the Arden Arcade Incorporation Committee at P.O. Box 215642, Sacramento, CA 95821.

For more information visit their website, read their blog or contact Patricia Cole by e-mail at ardenarcadeincorpcomm@gmail.com.