Question about public vote and funding leads to delay in decision on Menifee's request to detach from Valley-Wide

Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District currently controls several parks on the east side of Menifee, including Wheatfield Park. Menifee 24/7 photos: Doug Spoon

If the City of Menifee is to be allowed to take control of all parks and recreation facilities and services in the city, it must first provide a more specific cost analysis and wait for a decision on whether a vote of the residents is required.

That was the decision of the Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission, a regional agency whose members voted unanimously on Thursday to continue until next month a public hearing regarding the City's request to detach itself from Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District.

LAFCO will make the final decision on the City's attempt to take over control of 18 parks and the recreation programs east of Interstate 215 currently owned and operated by Valley-Wide, a regional district that has served the east part of the city for 27 years. This is to be the final step in a three-year process that has at times appeared to be adversarial between the two parties. Now it appears that even this final step could be a long one.

During a turbulent period following City Council meetings in which residents spoke passionately on both sides of the issue, the City and Valley-Wide appeared to have trouble communicating with each other in working toward a solution. At least that was the feeling expressed by members of LAFCO, who seemed to have difficulty sorting through conflicting reports from the City of Menifee, Valley-Wide, LAFCO staff and an independent firm hired to provide financial analysis.

The key points of contention seem to be these:

-- Would approval of detachment from Valley-Wide require a vote of the residents in the Landscape Maintenance Districts of Menifee that would be affected by a potential change in tax assessments?

According to a LAFCO study of the issue, annexation by the City of Menifee might violate the terms of Prop. 218, a state constitutional amendment requiring special taxes to be put to a two-thirds vote. According to Valley-Wide officials and LAFCO's legal counsel, it would be a violation. According to City of Menifee officials during the presentation, such a transfer of power and new tax assessments would not require a vote of the residents.

The motion to continue the item until the Feb. 23 LAFCO meeting includes a provision that LAFCO legal counsel Tiffany North will communicate with attorneys on the opposing sides and do further research to confirm whether approval of detachment would require a vote of the residents in the affected areas.

"There's no argument that Prop 218 applies," said George Spiliotis, executive officer of LAFCO, who presented the LAFCO staff report. "It's just a matter of how it applies. The City feels there's a way they can assume the additional cost and be in compliance with Prop 218 without conducting a vote. We believe that is problematic."

City and Valley-Wide officials have argued over who's at fault for dying landscaping along Newport Road.

-- How will the City of Menifee afford to take over parks and recreation on the east side of the city? The City says it is budgeting $3.7 million in annual tax assessments to go toward a cost estimated to be about $5 million, according to findings of the independent financial analysis presented on Thursday. Where would the balance of approximately $1.3 million come from?

"It is not clear to us where the additional offset the city would provide would come from," said Kuda Wekwete of the the legal firm of David Taussig and Associates, which conducted the independent financial analysis. "The City identified that it would be covered by other revenue sources such as the general fund and program fees. We still felt there wasn't sufficient enumeration of those revenue sources."

Legal counsel for the City of Menifee told commissioners the $1.3 million figure was "overstated" and was actually about $600,000. No specifics were given on how the additional expenses would be met, which led commissioners to another question concerning a topic of some debate among Menifee residents:

-- Would the City of Menifee use for this purpose any of the projected $6 million that will be generated by Measure DD, the 1 percent sales tax increase voters passed in November?

The ballot language supporting Measure DD said the tax was needed to fund "vital services", which were defined as police and fire services and public infrastructure, including road improvements. There was no mention of using that money to help fund parks and recreation. However, because those tax revenues go into the general fund, it may be difficult to track exactly how Measure DD funds are used.

The Menifee City Council approved the creation of an oversight committee to monitor those funds -- perhaps including private citizens -- but the makeup of that committee has not been announced.

"The independent experts here came to the same conclusion we did," said Matthew Duarte, a longtime Menifee resident and president of the Valley-Wide Board of Directors. "The DTA report stated that detachment could be ill-advised. Considering all the turmoil at City Hall in recent years, I have no illusions that the City of Menifee would be a good example of how to manage this situation.

"They got a sales tax approved because we have a very low percentage of police protection. Now they're ready to spend their new-found largess on parks?"

Valley-Wide general manager Dean Wetter addressed the Menifee Parks, Recreation and Trails Commission in August.

Spiliotis re-emphasized similar concerns in the LAFCO report.

"It seems logical that some of that additional revenue has to be general fund discretionary," he said. "The City has not acknowledged that discretionary funds will be any part of it. They've been running at a $2.4 million budget deficit, but now they expect a $6 million influx of revenue. Whatever their level of commitment to that revenue is, it's there."

Following public comment on both sides of the issue, the City of Menifee was allowed a rebuttal. Robert Lennox, director of the Community Services Department, said Measure DD funds "are not being pledged" toward parks and recreation expenses.

"There will be no dollars taken from that," he said.

Under questioning from LAFCO commissioner Randon Lane, Lennox said, "Our mention of Measure DD was purely to address concerns. We are perfectly willing to conduct our own financial analysis to show how this would be funded."

Lane's response: "It seems rational to assume some of the money may have to come from Measure DD."

In response, Lennox said, "When any sales tax revenue comes in, it goes into the general fund. How that money is spent will be something for the oversight committee to determine."

Responding again, Lane said, "So the statement you made that Measure DD funds would not be used was not accurate."

Before that exchange, several public comments were heard from Menifee residents supporting detachment, including Menifee Parks, Recreation and Trails Commission members Bill Zimmerman and Rick Croy; Planning Commissioner Earl Phillips; City Council member Lesa Sobek; local developer Kassen Klein; and Menifee resident Gloria Sanchez.

"Mr. Lennox has all the capabilities to create a citywide Parks and Recreation Department," Zimmerman said. "Today you may hear from some dissenters who will urge you to delay or postpone the decision. They'd be telling you to kick the can down the road. I hope that's not the case."


"The City having local control is the natural order," Sobek said. "It's vital to unify control of the parks. We need to get rid of the multi-agency method being used."

When it created its Community Services Department in 2014, the City of Menifee prepared to assume control of parks and recreation services west of the freeway from Riverside County. After that took place later that year, the issue became the services east of the freeway, long supported by loyal backers of Valley-Wide. As it became more apparent that the City planned to eventually take control of all parks and recreation, public debate on the subject increased.

The apparently differing accounts presented during Thursday's meeting did nothing to clear up any confusion on the issue.

"We're hearing two different stories," Lane said. "I fear that making a decision based on some of the conditions discussed could lead to legal challenges. I am in favor of moving forward with Menifee's ability to take over control of the parks, but I don't want it to be held up in a lengthy legal battle."

Washington agreed that an apparent inability or unwillingness of the two sides to communicate effectively has made the decision more difficult.

"Each group has pointed fingers at the other," Washington said during Thursday's meeting. "I won't shirk my responsibility to make this decision, but it would be much easier if the two agencies could work together on a plan that will work for both."

The motion to carry over the issue until the next meeting requires both sides to present additional information to be considered by Feb. 9. The next LAFCO meeting is scheduled to take place Feb. 23 at 9:30 a.m. at the Riverside County Administrative Center, 480 Lemon Street in Riverside.