HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-15-00 06.a.2) Little Hoover Commission Special Districts Report LITTLE HOOVER COMMISSION
SPECIAL DISTRICTS REPORT
Finding 1
Special districts are often invisible to the public
41 1*
and policy-makers, compromising oversight and
accountability.
Re commendwi
on 1
The Governor and legislature should enact
legislation that would make special districts
more visible and accountable.
� Require special districts to actually make
their activities visible to the public.
• Require special districts to submit
information to other local g overnments.
• Encourage special district elections till be
held as part of even year general elections.
p O O
CCCSD'rS Q .tivRies Toward-Findina7
Publish our mission and purpose
Various outreach programs
Fix-it Notice
Customer Satisfaction feedback forms
Community Newsletter
Web site - financial data
Publicly Notice our Board Meetings
District Policy on investments and reserves
Ten Year Capital Plan
Audit sent to State Controller's office,
County Auditor's Office, Board of
Supervisors - Division of Audits
Consolidate the District's election with the
general election
. o 0
Einding 2:
LAFCOs have failed to promote the efficient
and effective evolution of independent special
districts.
Recommendation2:
The State should provide LAFCOs with the
direction and resources to make them a
catalyst for effective and efficient evolution of
special districts.
• Special reviews of public agencies by
LAFCOs
• Enhance the independence of LAFCOs
• Shared funding of LAFCOs
C=D' A _tivitipa Tnwarrl Flnd'In9�
Participated in Benchmarking
Internal reviews of efficiency (CIT's,
Internal Audits)
Grand jury reviews
o
Finding 3:
Policy-makers lack the analytical tools
necessary to assess the benefits of
consolidation.
Recommendation 3•
To equip policy-makers with tools necessary to
guide special districts, a program should be
established by the California Policy Research
Center to:
0 Develop guidelines for special district
consolidation
• Study long-term effects of consolidation
• Establish a group of trainers
• Develop performance measures
C-CCSD s Ar tivities Toward Finding
Benchmarking studies
Partnerships
. o 0
Finding 4:
Special districts have banked multi-million dollar
reserves that are not publicized nor considered
in statewide infrastructure planning.
Be.C 0[Yu tI e n dal to n 4•
The Governor should enact policies to ensure
prudent management of reserve funds and
incorporate thlue resources into statewide
infrastructure planning by requiring:
• Districts to publicize their reserves
• Policy-makers to integrate enterprise district
reserve information into infrastructure
planning
• Guidelines for prudent reserves
=SD Activitie-s-7 --ard Finding 4•
Board approved prudent reserve levels
Board approved investment policy
Publicize reserves in Capital Plan, financial
statements, Audit reports and newsletter
Findinq�
Property tax allocations to some districts create
inequities among districts and distort the true
cost of services. A significant portion of
property tax allocated to enterprise districts
subsidizes districts with the highest reserves.
Recommendation-5;
Policy m akers should scrutinize the
appropriateness of maintaining property tax
allocations to enterprise districts.
• Annually review the level of property tax
support
• Examine how enterprise districts use
property tax revenues
• Require a state audit of some districts
• Allow counties to reclaim and reallocate
property tax revenues
• Enhance public understanding of property
tax allocations
(�GGSD's
kctivifies Twar,rdJRndini-
OM�
Allocate property tax entirely to capital
spending and bond debt
Equates to approximately 538 on the
Sewer Service Charge
Budgeted 55.4 million in property tax
revenue for 2000-2001