Riverside Grand Jury Questions Viability of Service District
July 23, 2020
The 2019-2020 Riverside County Civil Grand Jury released a report today on the Southern Coachella Valley Community Services District entitled “Saved by the Trash, But for How Long?”
The report addresses the financial viability of the district and finds that the district cannot support the current level of supplemental law enforcement with the revenues of the flat tax imposed on residential and commercial properties since 1986. It further finds that the use of the franchise fee income from its contract with the waste hauler in the district to augment the payment of the current cost of supplemental law enforcement may violate the California Constitution as amended by Proposition 218. It finds that the Riverside Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) is overdue in its five-year Municipal Service Revue (MSR) of Southern Coachella. It has not updated its report since 2005.
The Civil Grand Jury recommends that the governing board of the district present to the voters in November 2020 a ballot measure to increase the tax to fund the activity of supplemental law enforcement. It recommends that the income from the franchise fee be used once again for the activities involved in community cleanup.
It recommends that LAFCO completes its MSR for the area this year.
The report in English and Spanish can be accessed using the quick links on the Grand Jury Website.
