Review and file the 2024 Yolo Local Government Website Transparency Scorecard

Review and file the 2024 Yolo Local Government Website Transparency Scorecard.

None.

In the fall of 2017, the cities and County requested LAFCo to begin preparing web transparency scorecards on an annual basis promoting a vision for open government and transparency for government agencies countywide (cities, County, special districts, and joint powers authorities), thereby fostering public trust and accountability.

The checklist criteria are intended to establish a generally accepted minimum standard for transparency, i.e. this is not intended to be used as a "best website" contest. We acknowledge some of our larger and more resourced agencies go far above and beyond these criteria for higher levels of public service and communication. The goal for smaller agencies is not necessarily to have a high score at the outset, but to set a baseline that will hopefully see improvement from year to year.

Scorecard Results
Website transparency remained relatively consistent across most agency categories. An agency's website transparency appears to correlate somewhat with how functional and resourced it is. Districts in violation of state law requiring websites for independent special districts include: two cemetery districts (Cottonwood and Knights Landing), one fire protection district (Elkhorn), and three Reclamation Districts (307, 730, and 765). Capay Cemetery District also does not have a website, but has adopted a hardship resolution keeping it in compliance. 

Cities and County (5)
City and Yolo County content overall remained at a relatively high level in the low 90s, except for Winters which dropped from 94% to 81% this year.

Special Districts (47)
Special district content is summarized by each district type below. The six districts that are not in compliance with legal requirements (to either maintain a website or adopt a hardship resolution) generally are very small, volunteer-run districts with no staff to maintain a website. 

• Cemetery districts (6 total) remained consistently low, around 40%, because three cemetery districts (Capay, Cottonwood and Knights Landing) do not have a website at all. Capay adopted a hardship resolution which keeps them in compliance with state law at least. Davis achieved a 100% score, Winters a 94% score, and Mary's a 52% score. 
• Community Services Districts (4 total) content has consistently hovered in the mid-50s. Esparto CSD has a 95% transparency score, Madison has a 57% score, but Cacheville and Knights Landing CSDs are in the 30s. 
• County Service Areas (7 total) content has remained high but declined from 97% in 2022 to 89% in 2024.
• The Sacramento-Yolo Port District (1) content has declined over the years from 89% in 2022 to 78% in 2024. But we're doing its municipal service review this year, so staff can reinforce this issue. 
• The Yolo County Resource Conservation District (1) improved from 70% in 2022 to 83% in 2024.
• Water districts (3 total) remain relatively consistent in the low 60s range, with a 60% average in 2024.
• Fire protection districts (FPDs) (15 total, although only 5 are independent districts which require websites) improved from 47% in 2022 to 56% in 2024. Two FPDs do not have a website at all (Elkhorn and No Man's Land), but only Elkhorn FPD, as an independent district, is required to have one. 
• Reclamation districts (10 total) content improved slightly from 32% in 2022 to 44% in 2024. Three RDs (RD 307, RD 730 and RD 765) do not have websites at all and are not in compliance with state website laws (i.e. have not adopted hardship waivers).  

Joint Powers Authorities/Agencies (18)
Joint Powers Authorities/Agencies' (JPAs) content has stayed consistent at 55% for the last three years. Of the 18 total local JPAs tracked on the scorecard, five JPAs do not have websites at all. These JPAs are: Conaway Ranch, Winters Branch Library Financing Authority, Winters Public Finance Authority, Woodland Finance Authority, and Yolo County Public Agencies Financing Authority. However, there is no legal website requirement for JPAs.