The List

Background

The residents of a specific area may seek to establish a special district when they want services not provided by the county or city, or higher levels of an existing service (e.g., fire protection, water provision, park and recreation, sanitation, transit, road maintenance). Special districts provide a focused service limited to specifically defined areas. The citizens in a special district decide how to fund the services desired. Because a comprehensive list of special districts within the county did not exist, the Grand Jury compiled one. That list is included in this report.

Definitions

Autonomous Special District: Independent special districts that choose to keep their operating funds in the county treasury and use the county’s systems to process their financial transactions and maintain their records.

County Service Area (CSA): CSAs can be formed to provide residents in rural areas with services that are not generally provided by existing business or government agencies. The County Board of Supervisors serves as the governing body for County Service Areas.

Dependent Special District: Operates under the control of the County Board of Supervisors or a city council.

Independent Special District: Operates under an independent (sometimes elected) board of directors.

Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO): Government agency authorized by state law to regulate the boundaries of cities and special districts.

Findings

1. A single list that included every dependent, independent and autonomous special district within Santa Cruz County did not exist.

2. In the 2005 Countywide Service Review published by LAFCO, 84 special districts are listed as being within LAFCO’s jurisdiction.

3. Not all special districts in the county are within LAFCO’s jurisdiction. Some may be operated directly by the County Board of Supervisors or their own board.

4. There are a total of 92 special districts in Santa Cruz County: 63 dependent, eight independent, and 21 autonomous (see Table).

Table. Santa Cruz County Special Districts 2007-2008
	Type of Special District
	D = Dependent
	I = Independent
	A = Autonomous
	* Not regulated by LAFCO
TYPE	NAME	ACTIVITY	FUNCTION
D	CSA 2 Place DeMer	Subdivision Maintenance	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 3 Aptos Seascape	Maintain Area	Roads
D	CSA 4 Pajaro Dunes	Fire Protection	Public Protection
D	CSA 5 Sand Dollar Beach	Sewer Services	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 7 Boulder Creek	Sewer Collection & Treatment	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 9 Hwy Safety & Lighting	Capital Improvements	Roads
D*	CSA 9A Residential Lighting	Unincorporated	Roads
D*	CSA 9B School Crossing Guard	Live Oak School District	Roads
D*	CSA 9C Refuse Disposal	Transfer Stations	Health Sanitation
D*	CSA 9D1 Road Maintenance	Subzone 1	Roads
D*	CSA 9D2 Road Maintenance	Subzone 2	Roads
D*	CSA 9D3 Road Maintenance	Subzone 3	Roads
D*	CSA 9E Streetscape (Redevelopment)	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 10 Rolling Woods	Sewer Collection & Treatment	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 11 Parks & Recreation	Recreation	Parks Recreation
D	CSA 12 All Unsewered Areas	Waste Disposal Enterprise	Health Sanitation
D*	CSA 12-Capital Improvement	Low Interest Loan	Health Sanitation
D*	CSA 12A SLV Wastewater Mgmt	San Lorenzo Wastewater	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 13 Hutchinson Road	Road Maintenance	Roads
D*	CSA 13A Oak Flat Road	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 15 Huckleberry Woods	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 16 Robak Drive	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 17 Empire Acres	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 18 Whitehouse Canyon Dr	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 20 Trestle Beach	Sewer Collection & Treatment	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 21 Westdale Drive	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 22 Kelly Hill	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 23 Old Ranch Road	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 24 Pineridge	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 25 Viewpoint Road	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 26 Hidden Valley Road	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 28 Lomond Terrace	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 30 Glenwood Acres	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 32 View Circle	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 33 Redwood Drive	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 34 Larson Road	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 35 Country Estates	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 36 Forest Glen	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 37 Roberts Road	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 38 Sheriff Unincorporated	Financing	Public Protection
D	CSA 39 Reed Street	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 40 Ralston Way	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 41 Loma Prieta Drive	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 42 Sunlit Lane	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 43 Bonita-Encino	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 44 Sunbeam Woods	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 46 Pinecrest	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 47 Braemoor Drive	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 48 County Fire	Fire Protection	Public Protection
D	CSA 50 Vineyard	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 51 Hopkins Gulch	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 52 Upper Pleasant Valley	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 53 Mosquito Abatement	Pest Control	Health Sanitation
D*	CSA 53-North Mosquito Abatement	Pest Control	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 54 Summit West	Water Enterprise	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 55 Riverdale Park	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 56 Felton Grove	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 57 Graham Hill	Drainage & Sewer	Health Sanitation
D	CSA 58 Ridge Drive	Road Maintenance	Roads
D	CSA 59 McGaffigan Mill Road	Road & Bridge Maintenance	Roads
A	Alba Recreation and Park District	Recreation and Park	Parks recreation
A	Aptos-La Selva Fire Protection Services	Fire Protection	Public Protection
A	Ben Lomond Fire Protection District	Fire Protection	Public Protection
A	Boulder Creek Fire Protection District	Fire Protection	Public Protection
A	Boulder Creek Recreation and Park District	Recreation and Park	Parks recreation
A	Branciforte Fire Protection District	Fire Protection	Public Protection
A	Central Fire Protection District (Santa Cruz)	Fire Protection	Public Protection
A	Central Water District Santa Cruz	Water Enterprise	Water
D	Davenport Sanitation	Collection, Treatment & Disposal	Health Sanitation
A	Felton Fire Protection District	Fire Protection	Public Protection
D	Freedom Sanitation District	Sewage Collection & Disposal	Health Sanitation
A	La Selva Beach Recreation and Park District	Recreation and Park	Parks recreation
A	Lompico County Water District	Water Enterprise	Water
A	Opal Cliffs Recreation and Park District	Recreation and Park	Parks recreation
A	Pajaro Valley Fire Protection Service	Fire Protection	Public Protection
I	Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency	Flood Control and Water Conservation	Public Protection
I	Pajaro Storm Drain Maintenance District	Drainage & Drainage Maintenance	Public Protection
A	Pajaro Valley Cemetery District	Cemetery	Health Sanitation
D	Pasatiempo-Rolling Woods Sewer District	Sewage Construction	Health Sanitation
A	Reclamation District No. 2049	Land Reclamation and Levee Maintenance	Public Protection
I*	Santa Cruz County Flood Control District	Flood Control and Water Conservation	Public Protection
A	Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation Dist.	Resource Conservation	Public Protection
I*	Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District	Transit Enterprise	Transit
I	Santa Cruz Port District	Harbor Port Enterprise	Harbor
A	Santa Cruz County Sanitation Dist. (Santa Cruz)	Waste Disposal Enterprise	Health Sanitation
A	Salsipuedes Sanitary District	Waste Disposal Enterprise	Health Sanitation
I	San Lorenzo Valley County Water	Water Enterprise	Water
A	Scotts Valley Fire Protection District	Fire Protection	Public Protection
A*	Scotts Valley Fire Protection Zone A	Fire Protection	Public Protection
I	Scotts Valley Water District	Water Enterprise	Water
I	Soquel Creek Water District	Water Enterprise	Water
A	Zayante Fire Protection District	Fire Protection	Public Protection

Sources

County of Santa Cruz Autonomous Special Districts Final Budget 2007-2008

Countywide Service Review, LAFCO June 2005

Santa Cruz County Auditor-Controller’s Office

Santa Cruz County Fiscal Year 2007-08 Budget

Santa Cruz LAFCO office

Santa Cruz LAFCO website, http://www.santacruzlafco.org/