District 4 Sacramento County Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez hosted a town meeting on April 9 to discuss what incorporation of the Rio Linda and Elverta communities could look like. José Henríquez, the executive director of Sacramento County’s Local Agency Formation Commission, explained how the process works. Photo by Khushi Salgia 

RIO LINDA, CA (MPG) – District 4 Sacramento County Supervisor Rosario Rodriguez held a town hall meeting on April 9 to gauge the interest in a potential incorporation of the Rio Linda and Elverta communities. Approximately 75 residents were in attendance to learn more about the process and to voice their feelings and concerns.

Incorporation of the communities has been a consideration after the City of Sacramento’s annexation of approximately 589 acres of Rio Linda land in 2018. The acquisition of this section of land (known as the “panhandle”), approved by the Sacramento County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), was carried out on the basis that the land was underdeveloped. 

“The City claimed it could do a better job of providing recreation and park services to the homes once the land was developed,” said California Unincorporated on their website.

Now that the City has plans to begin development on this property in the fall, the possibility of incorporation has been on the minds of many Rio Linda residents, especially considering that the decision to annex the land was not a popular one. One of the main reasons for this is the lost tax revenue. The property taxes collected from the thousands of properties in the panhandle, which used to go to the Rio Linda Elverta Recreation and Parks District (RLERPD), now go to the City. 

Many Rio Lindans feel this annexation was unfair due to the lack of probable cause. The Local Agency Formation Commission’s (LAFCO) Municipal Service Review stated that the services the RLERPD provided to the panhandle were already adequate. 

Given LAFCO’s acknowledgment that RLERPD was adequately maintaining the land, the transfer of ownership to the City, which has a documented $123 million backlog in park repairs, lacked clear rationale. This contradictory action has led some Rio Lindans to believe that this maneuver was done to favor the City’s agenda over the Rio Linda-Elverta area, especially considering the pre-existing relationships and agreements the City of Sacramento, who wanted the land, has with the County of Sacramento, which LAFCO falls under. 

One of these pre-existing agreements is the 2010 Tax Exchange Agreement, where the City and the County laid out exactly how property taxes would be split once the land was developed. Because the County had already negotiated its “cut” of the future revenue, it had no legal or financial reason to block the City from taking over the land later. Another agreement is the City’s sphere of influence over the panhandle. Since the County’s primary mission in that area is to maintain rural and agricultural land, they often defer to cities to handle high-density housing projects. The County viewed the panhandle as urban growth, which they felt was better managed by the City.

Essentially, the City and the County have incentives to work in agreement with each other, and those who live in unincorporated areas might feel neglected, or like they don’t have control over their land. Both Rio Linda and Elverta are neither cities nor counties, but census-designated places. This means they don’t have their own government, mayor or police force, and are dependent on the County to take care of their needs. If they were to incorporate, they would have their own facilities, as well as the means to block any such action from the City of Sacramento. 

“Cities have the authority to determine what can and cannot be built within city limits,” said José Henríquez, Sacramento County LAFCO’s executive director during his presentation at the town hall meeting.  

While becoming a city is the most effective way for Rio Linda and Elverta residents to gain control of their land, the incorporation process is arduous, requiring a significant amount of time, money and sustained interest. After enough residents (about 25% of the area’s population) band together and decide to begin the incorporation process, there needs to be a Primary Feasibility Study, which examines whether Rio Linda and Elverta have the means to carry the financial burden of their own potential cityhood. 

According to Henríquez, this alone costs $20,000. Once that is approved, then the incorporation committee goes to LAFCO for the Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis (CFA), which costs about $100,000. There also needs to be a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) analysis which examines the environmental impacts of proposed discretionary projects and identifies ways to avoid or reduce damage.

The CEQA analysis can range from $40,000 to $100,000. Additionally, when an unincorporated area secedes from the jurisdiction of the County and becomes a city, they must work out an “alimony” agreement to compensate for the County’s lost tax revenue. For example, when Arden-Arcade incorporated in 2010, they had a $6 million per year, 35-year contract. By 2045, Arden-Arcade will have paid Sacramento County $210 million. If Rio Linda-Elverta were to become their own city, they would also negotiate their own payout with the County. Other costs are the incorporation committee elections, LAFCO costs ($114,000), the review of the CFA by the State Controller ($12,000), preparation and review of the new map and the city’s new legal description, just to name a few.  

“If you don’t come in with at least $150,000, you’re asking for trouble,” said Henríquez.  

In addition to the effort and cost, it is also a time-consuming process. In his presentation, Henríquez said that it would take a minimum of two years, though it is more likely that it will take significantly longer than that. For reference, Citrus Heights took approximately 12 years to incorporate, and Rancho Cordova took approximately 40 years. 

Rodriguez, who is supportive of Rio-Linda Elverta’s potential incorporation, still raised an important point of consideration. According to her, while becoming a city does give citizens more power and control over their land, it still doesn’t necessarily guarantee that all problems will be fixed. 

“Just because you’re a city doesn't mean it can meet all the needs it couldn’t as a county,” she said, drawing on her own experience of being a Folsom resident. 

An overwhelming majority of Rio Linda and Elverta residents who attended the town hall meeting expressed that they did not want to incorporate. Due to the extensive amount of time, effort and cost it would take, many feel that it wouldn’t be worth it. One citizen even stood up at the end of the presentation and stated that the “LAFCO process is horrible,” and many others in the room agreed. Only one resident spoke in favor of incorporation. 

“The main reason we want to incorporate is so we can make Rio Linda Elverta what we want it to be,” she said. “It’s the only way.”  

Her statement was met with strong disagreement. The general consensus is that most Rio Linda and Elverta citizens, with few exceptions, are not interested in the incorporation process. Rodriquez committed to doing more research and finding out more information about what it would take Rio Linda-Elverta to incorporate and said that she aims to host another town meeting in six weeks.