Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
• 2012-2013
Protecting Our Special Districts Is There Any Oversight?
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 6 findings
F1
When a special district fails due to neglect or poor practice, the financial burden falls upon the county taxpayers.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Once a problem is identified within a special district, LAFCO should proactively conduct a thorough service review of that district, with the aid of state and county agencies.
F2
When problems in special districts occur, there is no clear cooperative path of response for addressing those problems.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
To protect the public interest, the Board of Supervisors should work with LAFCO to initiate special reviews that adequately examine the effectiveness of service delivery, especially when unaddressed chronic problems are discovered.
F3
LAFCO underutilizes reviews that would allow for early problem detection and evaluation of independent special districts.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
LAFCO should adopt policies to ensure proactive service reviews are completed, to safeguard the proper functioning of a district. These reviews should be in addition to, and independent of, sphere of influence studies.
F4
LAFCO has the ability and the responsibility (per Government Code Section 56430) to do service reviews at least every five (5) years; however, they are not being completed in a timely or effective manner.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
LAFCO should budget adequately for professional services to conduct proactive service reviews, and maintain sufficient reserves for unanticipated service reviews of special districts.
F5
LAFCO asserts that a general lack of funding prevents the performance of proactive and comprehensive service reviews, yet they selectively pursue funding for other purposes.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Service reviews should be designed as diagnostic assessments with recommendations to the special district, County Board of Supervisors, and LAFCO Commissioners, in order to pinpoint, make transparent, and preemptively resolve special district problems.
F6
LAFCO, external agencies, and citizens have conflicting interpretations of the scope and frequency of service reviews for special districts.
No recommendations for this finding
Commendations 1
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CM1 Page 9C1. The Santa Cruz County Auditor-Controller’s Office should be commended for providing assistance and professional services to Lompico County Water District.
Agency Responses 1
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.
No Responses Found 3
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Santa Cruz County
County
Santa Cruz County Auditor-Controller
Elected County Office
Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office