Consider the Municipal Service Review (MSR)/Sphere of Influence (SOI) Initial Study for the City of Winters (LAFCo No. 22-04) and determine a comprehensive MSR/SOI Update is not needed for this five-year review cycle per Government Code §56425(g)

On the basis of the initial evaluation contained in the attached Municipal Service Review (MSR)/Sphere of Influence (SOI) Initial Study for the City of Winters (LAFCo No. 22-04), staff recommends LAFCo determine the following:

1. The required MSR determinations would likely not be significant;
2. An SOI Update is not warranted or requested by the City; and
3. Therefore, an MSR/SOI Update is not needed and the City will be reviewed again in five years per Government Code Section 56425(g).

None.

A comprehensive MSR/SOI Update was last adopted for the City of Winters on July 30, 2008. LAFCo also considered an MSR/SOI Update for the City in 2016 and determined it was not needed. Consideration for review is due again, as required every five-years. Per the Cortese- Knox-Hertzberg (CKH) Act §56430, MSRs are only required when LAFCo intends to update an agency’s SOI. Although for our special districts, Yolo LAFCo has frequently opted to perform MSRs notwithstanding an SOI Update in order to review and provide oversight of our smaller agencies that tend to be more rural and volunteer in nature. In the case of a city, where there is inherently much more scrutiny, accountability, and transparency (including comprehensive annual audits), staff evaluates whether LAFCo’s report would provide valuable information on a case by case basis. Yolo LAFCo has memorialized this approach in local policy (Project Policies 6.2 Criteria Municipal Service Review), "Although MSRs are technically required only when updating agency SOIs, per Government Code §56430, Yolo LAFCo will typically conduct MSRs on local special districts even if an SOI Update is not needed because, unlike cities, Yolo County’s special districts tend to be rural in nature and staffed by limited professional staff or entirely volunteer-run, meaning there is less oversight to ensure operational adequacy and fiscal sustainability."

Staff met with the Winters City Manager, Kathleen Trepa, on July 20, 2022 where she indicated the City is not seeking a change to its SOI at this time. Winters' Measure A was approved by the voters on Nov 3, 2020 establishing an Urban Growth Boundary to limit development and prescribe a planning process for areas outside of city limits. This process generally requires the planning process to include a master plan paid for by the City (normally paid for by developers) and would need to be approved by the voters. Due to the City’s lack of ability to fund and staff such a process, LAFCo staff does not anticipate significant development outside city boundaries in the next 5-10 years.

Staff has utilized the MSR checklist template as an initial study screening tool to evaluate whether the MSR determinations would be significant (see attached). Staff recommends that based on the initial study checklist prepared that an MSR/SOI Update for the City of Winters is not needed this cycle and LAFCo will consider it again in five years (fiscal year 2027/28). LAFCo has tended to make this determination for cities when an SOI Update is not needed or desired.