Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study
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Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study South Orange County Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study for South Orange County (MSR 05-24) Draft December 2005 Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ...............................................................................................................................I SECTION 1:.................................................................................................................1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................1 SECTION 2:.................................................................................................................9 AGENCY PROFILES ............................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................10 SECTION 3:...............................................................................................................25 GROWTH & PROJECTED POPULATION.....................................................................................25 A. REGIONAL SUMMARY ............................................................................................................26 B. EXISTING & PROJECTED POPULATION ................................................................................27 SECTION 4:...............................................................................................................31 INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS & DEFICIENCIES ...........................................................................31 A. REGIONAL OVERVIEW...........................................................................................................32 B. ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT .......................................................................33 C. FIRE AND EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES .......................................................................35 D. WATER SERVICE ....................................................................................................................40 E. WASTEWATER ........................................................................................................................44 F. PARKS & RECREATION..........................................................................................................45 G. OPEN SPACE ...........................................................................................................................48 H. ANIMAL CONTROL SERVICES ...............................................................................................49 SECTION 5:...............................................................................................................51 FINANCING OPPORTUNITIES & CONSTRAINTS .....................................................................51 A. FINANCIAL OVERVIEW ..........................................................................................................52 B. FINANCIAL SUMMARIES ........................................................................................................54 Table of Contents - i - Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study for South Orange County (MSR 05-24) Draft December 2005 SECTION 6:...............................................................................................................61 ECONOMIES OF SERVICE ..............................................................................................................61 A. RATE RESTRUCTURING .........................................................................................................62 B. COST AVOIDANCE, SHARED FACILITIES AND MANAGEMENT EFFICIENCIES....................66 SECTION 7:...............................................................................................................70 GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE OPTIONS ......................................................................................70 A. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................71 B. OVERVIEW..............................................................................................................................72 C. RANCHO MISSION VIEJO.......................................................................................................77 D. UNINCORPORATED COMMUNITIES .......................................................................................83 E. SPECIAL DISTRICTS ...............................................................................................................88 F. CURRENT CITY SPHERES AND OPTIONS...............................................................................89 SECTION 8:...............................................................................................................94 LOCAL ACCOUNTABILITY & GOVERNANCE ..........................................................................94 A. CITIES .....................................................................................................................................95 B. COUNTY OF ORANGE .............................................................................................................97 C. SPECIAL DISTRICTS ...............................................................................................................98 APPENDIX A:......................................................................................................... 102 SCORE REPORT...............................................................................................................................102 Table of Contents - ii - Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study for South Orange County (MSR 05-24) DRAFT December 2005 Section 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study for South Orange County (MSR 05-24) DRAFT December 2005 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background In 1997, the State Legislature convened a special commission to study and make recommendations to address California’s rapidly accelerating growth. The Commission on Local Governance for the 21st Century focused their energies on ways to empower the already existing County LAFCOs, originally established in 1963. One of the major new responsibilities of LAFCO is to conduct regional studies of municipal services (Municipal Service Reviews, or MSRs) every five years. MSRs are a way to assist agencies and residents by: (1) evaluating existing municipal services, and (2) identifying any future constraints or challenges that may impact service delivery in the future. MSRs are a prerequisite for completion of sphere of influence studies. The agencies and communities addressed by this MSR include: City of San Clemente City of San Juan Capistrano City of Mission Viejo City of Rancho Santa Margarita Ladera Ranch Coto de Caza Rancho Mission Viejo Santa Margarita Water District Trabuco Canyon Water District County of Orange Section 1, Executive Summary - 2 - Orange County Local Agency Formation Commission Municipal Service Review & Sphere of Influence Study for South Orange County (MSR 05-24) DRAFT December 2005 The Orange LAFCO MSR process occurred in three interrelated phases. The first phase was the preparation of this document, the MSR report, by LAFCO staff. The MSR report, which is a LAFCO document, is only a starting point. The report is not intended to comprehensively analyze all options and issues discussed but rather to present a “high level” overview of the issues. The agencies and residents within the MSR study area will be required to complete detailed analyses (i.e., fiscal studies, etc.) prior to the implementation of any of the alternatives discussed in the MSR report. The MSR report was instrumental as a starting place for discussions that took place in the second phase of the MSR process: the stakeholder working group (SWG) meetings. The SWG is a group comprised of a representative from each of the stakeholder agencies and communities. The SWG convened over a 3-month period of time to fulfill its two-fold purpose: 1) To assist LAFCO staff in the preparation of this MSR report – While the MSR report is a LAFCO document, the SWG was instrumental in the report’s development. The group collaborated with LAFCO staff and reviewed the draft MSR report throughout its development, providing missing data and proposing revisions/modifications when appropriate. 2) To discuss future governance options for the area – The end product of the stakeholder working group will be a “governance strategy” that summarizes the groups’ conclusions regarding future governance options and proposed spheres of influence. While the MSR report is a LAFCO document, the governance strategy, as approved by the SWG, is a separate document which will be forward to the Commission for consideration at the same time as this MSR report and sphere of influence study. The third phase of the MSR process is the Commission’s consideration of the proposed agencies’ spheres of influence prepared by LAFCO staff, which will happen concurrently with the Commission’s review of this MSR report and the SWG’s governance strategy document. The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization