To: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
From: Planning and Building Services and Executive Office
Meeting Date: March 10, 2026
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Department Contact: |
Julia Krog |
Phone: |
707-234-6650 |
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Department Contact: |
Darcie Antle |
Phone: |
707-463-4441 |
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Item Type: Regular Agenda |
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Time Allocated for Item: 15 Minutes |
Agenda Title:
title
Discussion and Possible Action Including Direction to Staff Regarding Consideration of the County Joining the Statewide Community Infrastructure Program
(Sponsors: Planning and Building Services and Executive Office)
End
Recommended Action/Motion:
recommendation
Provide direction to staff regarding consideration of the County joining the Statewide Community Infrastructure Program.
End
Previous Board/Board Committee Actions:
On April 11, 2023, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors approved the Bella Vista Subdivision Project. Conditions of approval required the establishment of either a Homeowners Association or “other oversight instrument as approved by the County”.
On December 3, 2024, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors directed staff to continue researching the feasibility of establishing a Community Facilities District in-lieu of a Homeowners Association for the Traditional Neighborhood in the Bella Vista Subdivision Project.
On February 3, 2026, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors approved modifications to the Bella Vista Subdivision Project. Conditions of approval required the establishment of either a Homeowners Association or “other oversight instrument as approved by the County”. During that meeting the Board requested that the Community Facilities District discussion come back to the Board as soon as possible including consideration of joining the Statewide Community Infrastructure Program (“SCIP”).
Summary of Request:
California Statewide Communities Development Authority (“CSCDA”) is a joint powers authority sponsored by the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties. The member agencies of CSCDA include approximately 391 cities and 56 counties throughout California, including the County of Mendocino (the “County”).
Statewide Community Infrastructure Program (“SCIP”) was instituted by CSCDA in 2002 to allow owners of property in participating cities and counties to finance the development impact fees that would be payable by property owners upon receiving development entitlements or building permits. The program has since been expanded to include financing of public capital improvements directly. If a property owner chooses to participate, the selected public capital improvements and the development impact fees owed to the County will be financed by the issuance of tax-exempt bonds by CSCDA. CSCDA will impose a special assessment on the owner’s property to repay the portion of the bonds issued to finance the fees paid with respect to the property. With respect to impact fees, the property owner will either pay the impact fees at the time of permit issuance, and will be reimbursed from the SCIP bond proceeds when the SCIP bonds are issued; or the fees will be funded directly from the proceeds of the SCIP bonds. In the former case, the County is required to pay the fees over to SCIP, and in the latter case, SCIP holds the bond proceeds representing the fees. In both cases the fees are subject to requisition by the County at any time to make authorized fee expenditures. But by holding and investing the money until it is spent, SCIP is able to monitor the investment earnings (which come to the County) for federal tax law arbitrage purposes. SCIP encourages the County to spend those amounts before any other fee revenues of the County. If the fees are paid by the property owner and bonds are never issued, the fees are returned to the County by SCIP. In this way, the County is never at risk for the receipt of the impact fees.
The benefits to the property owner include:
• Only property owners who choose to participate in the program will have assessments imposed on their property.
• Instead of paying cash for public capital improvements and/or development impact fees, the property owner receives low-cost, long-term tax-exempt financing of those fees, freeing up capital for other purposes.
• The property owner can choose to pay off the special assessments at any time.
• For home buyers, paying for the costs of public infrastructure through a special assessment is superior to having those costs “rolled” into the cost of the home. Although the tax bill is higher, the amount of the mortgage is smaller, making it easier to qualify. Moreover, because the special assessment financing is at tax-exempt rates, it typically comes at lower cost than mortgage rates.
• Owners of smaller projects, both residential and commercial, can have access to tax-exempt financing of infrastructure. Before the inception of SCIP, only projects large enough to justify the formation of an assessment or communities facilities district had access to tax-exempt financing.
The benefits to the County include:
• As in conventional assessment financing, the County is not liable to repay the bonds issued by CSCDA or the assessments imposed on the participating properties.
• CSCDA handles all district formation, district administration, bond issuance and bond administration functions. A participating county can provide tax-exempt financing to property owners through SCIP while committing virtually no staff time to administer the program.
• Providing tax-exempt financing helps participating cities and counties cushion the impact of rising public capital improvements costs and development impact fees on property owners.
• The availability of financing will encourage developers to pull permits and pay fees in larger blocks, giving the participating county immediate access to revenues for public infrastructure, rather than receiving a trickle of revenues stretched out over time. As part of the entitlement negotiation process, the possibility of tax-exempt financing of fees can be used to encourage a developer to pay fees up front.
• In some cases, the special assessments on successful projects can be refinanced through refunding bonds. Savings achieved through refinancing will be directed back to the participating county for use on public infrastructure, subject to applicable federal tax limitations.
To be eligible for SCIP financing, the improvements must be (1) required as conditions of development approval for the project or otherwise provide special benefit to the project, (2) must not have already been accepted by and transferred to a public agency prior to the bond issuance and (3) must be the kinds of public improvements authorized to be financed under the Municipal Improvement Act of 1913. CSCDA requires that an acquisition agreement be entered into between the County and the applicant/developer providing for the acquisition of the financed improvements. The financed improvements must be owned by the County or another government entity upon completion. In addition, the financed improvements shall be constructed as if they were constructed under the direction and supervision of the County, including that all construction contracts must call for payment of prevailing wages.
If the Board has questions regarding SCIP or is interested in learning more about SCIP, a representative of CSCDA is available to join the March 24, 2026 Board meeting to provide additional information.
The SCIP manual may be viewed at the following link: <https://cscda.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SCIP-Manual-2018-1.pdf>
Alternative Action/Motion:
Provide direction to staff.
Strategic Plan Priority Designation: A Thriving Economy
Supervisorial District: All
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supplemental Information Available Online At: <https://cscda.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SCIP-Manual-2018-1.pdf>
Fiscal Details:
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source of funding: General Fund |
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current f/y cost: Unknown |
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budget clarification: Would require county staff time in preparation of agenda item for adoption of SCIP resolution, newspaper publication for legal notice, and on-going expenses when applications are filed for use of SCIP funds. |
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annual recurring cost: Currently unknown |
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budgeted in current f/y (if no, please describe): N/A |
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revenue agreement: N/A |
AGREEMENT/RESOLUTION/ORDINANCE APPROVED BY COUNTY COUNSEL: Yes
CEO Liaison: Steve Dunnicliff, Deputy CEO
CEO Review: Yes
CEO Comments:
FOR COB USE ONLY
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Executed By: Deputy Clerk |
Final Status: Item Status |
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Date: Date Executed |
Executed Item Type: item |
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Number: |
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