NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Local Agency Formation Commission of Modoc County (LAFCO) will hold a public hearing on the following item:

The Modoc County Board of Supervisors and the "Save our Hospital Committee" propose to form a Healthcare District and establish a provisional Sphere of Influence consisting of approximately 955 square miles of territory in Modoc County including the area surrounding the communities of Likely, Alturas, Cal-Pines and Canby. The Modoc County Hospital currently serves this area with healthcare services.

The Commission will consider oral and written testimony by any interested person or affected agency as well as the report of the Executive Officer. At the hearing, the Commission may approve or disapprove a proposal with or without amendment, wholly, partially, or conditionally, may include or exclude territory in a change of organization or may continue its consideration with or without amendment, as a whole, in part, or upon such conditions as the Commission may determine. The Commission intends to require a proposition enabling district funding and confirmation for the formation of the Health Care District be placed on a special election ballot at the next earliest date for a special election. This notice complies with Section 15182 of the CEQA Guidelines.

Persons may attend and be heard at the time and place of the hearing. If you challenge the action of the Commission on any of the above stated items in court, it may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the Local Agency Formation Commission of Modoc County at, or prior to, the public hearing.

The Executive Officer's report will be available for review at the City of Alturas Administrative Office located at the Alturas City Hall, 200 North Street, Alturas California, the Modoc County Planning Department located at 203 W. 4th Street, Alturas, CA. and, as practicable, the LAFCO website www.modoc.lafco.ca.gov five (5) days prior to the hearing. The contact person is John Benoit, Executive Officer who may be reached at (530) 233-9625 lafco @ modoc.lafco.ca.gov

The public hearing will be held at Alturas City Hall, 200 North Street, Alturas, California on the 13th day of November 2008 at 6:00 P.M., at which time and place interested persons may attend and be heard. If you challenge the action of the Commission on any of the above stated items in court, it may be limited to only those issues raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to LAFCO of Modoc County at, or prior to, the conclusion of the public hearing.

LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION

John Benoit, Executive Officer


Addition Information:

Executive Officer's Report:
Formation of the Last Frontier Health Care District

Resolution 2008-0006:
Making Determinations and Approving the Proposed Formation of the Last Frontier Healthcare District

Attachment # 7:
TECHNICAL FACTORS OF CONSIDERATION

BUSINESS PLAN - July 2009 - June 2014
for the proposed LAST FRONTIER HEALTHCARE DISTRICT
(Community Service Area)

History of LAFCO

The end of World War II saw California experiencing a tremendous population increase, which resulted in the sporadic formation of cities and special service districts. The results of this development boom became evident as more of California’s agricultural land was converted to urban uses. Premature and unplanned development created an inefficient and expensive system of delivering public services using various small units of local government.

The Early Days

In 1959, in recognition of this problem Governor Edmund G. Brown appointed the Commission on Metropolitan Area Problems. The Commission’s charge was to study and make recommendations on the “misuse of land resources” and the growing complexity of overlapping, local governmental jurisdictions. The Commission’s recommendations on local governmental reorganization were introduced in the Legislature, resulting in the creation of the Local Agency Formation Commission, or “LAFCO” in 1963, operating in each County except San Francisco, (which later formed in 2001).

The Legislature approved the District Reorganization Act (DRA) in 1965. This Act combined separate laws governing special district boundaries into a single law. Another law, the Municipal Organization Act of 1977 (MORGA) consolidated various laws on city incorporation and annexation into one law.

These three laws contained many parallel and duplicative provisions. However, similar procedures varied slightly from one law to another, and the procedures necessary for one type of boundary change were found in vastly different sections of the three laws. Although MORGA was the most current revision of city annexation statutes, many cities in the state were required to use DRA so that areas being annexed could be simultaneously detached from special districts. All three laws contained application and hearing procedures for LAFCOs, but there were inconsistencies among them. This made city and district boundary changes unnecessarily confusing and complicated for local agencies and LAFCOs, as well as for residents and property owners.

The Cortese-Knox Local Government Reorganization Act of 1985

The Cortese-Knox Local Government Reorganization Act of 1985 followed several years of cooperative effort between Assembly Member Dominic Cortese, former Chair of the Assembly Local Government Committee and the California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions (CALAFCO). The Act, which became operative January 1, 1986, consolidated the three major laws used by California’s local governments for boundary changes into single, unified law.

LAFCO Today - The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (AB 2838)

The Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (AB 2838) further consolidated LAFCO law and enabled LAFCOs to play a lead role in the orderly development of all local agencies. Section 56001 of the Government Code reiterates and emphasizes the State Legislature’s policies of:

• Discouraging Urban Sprawl and Promoting Orderly Development
• Accommodating Growth Within the Agencies Which Can Best Provide Services
• Efficiently Extending Government Services
• Collaboration of Local Officials in Addressing Regional Growth Issues
• Preserving Open-Space
• Providing Housing for People of all Incomes
• Giving Responsibility to the Agency that Can Best Provide Government Services. (§56001).

Purpose of LAFCO

LAFCOs review proposals for the formation of new local governmental agencies and changes of organization in existing agencies. In California there are 58 LAFCOs working with nearly 4,000 governmental agencies in 58 counties, over 500 cities and over 3,000 special districts. Agency boundaries are often unrelated to one another and sometimes overlap at random, often leading to higher service cost to the taxpayer and general confusion regarding service area boundaries. LAFCO decisions strive to balance the competing needs in California for affordable housing, economic opportunity, and conservation of natural resources.

The primary objectives of LAFCOs are to encourage the orderly formation of local government agencies, to preserve agricultural and open space land, and to discourage urban sprawl. Modoc County LAFCO has jurisdiction over changes in local government organization occurring only within Modoc County. Proceedings for changes of organization of special districts or cities are subject to LAFCO review, pursuant to the Cortese/Knox/Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Government Code Section 56000, et seq.).

Changes of organization mean any of the following:

• A city incorporation;
• A district formation;
• An annexation to, or detachment from, a city or district;
• A disincorporation of a city;
• A district dissolution;
• A consolidation of cities or special districts;
• A merger or establishment of a subsidiary district;
• An authorization of a special district to exercise one of its latent powers or to extend the area over which a latent power is exercised; or
• A reorganization involving two or more of the above-listed changes of organization.

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
Citizens are welcomed and encouraged to attend regular LAFCO meetings and state their views during public hearings on proposals before the Commission. In addition, the meetings provide an excellent opportunity for citizens to familiarize themselves with the growth, development and inter-jurisdictional issues facing Modoc County.