County approves deal linked to Fairfield annexation

FAIRFIELD — Solano County has reached a money-sharing agreement for Fairfield’s proposed train station annexation area, totalling $62,000 a year.

The county Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the agreement Tuesday. The Fairfield City Council will consider the deal Oct. 2.

Fairfield wants to annex more than 2,000 acres east of Peabody Road in two phases. Its plans call for the area to develop with a train station, about 6,800 homes, businesses and industry. The train station area is to be the city’s big growth frontier for years to come.

This land is presently under Solano County’s jurisdiction. Though most of the land is vacant, various businesses exist along Cement Hill, Vanden and Peabody roads that the county has allowed over the years. Among these rural businesses are self-storage and landscaping supplies.

Solano County and its cities have an agreement from 2000 on how to share property tax after an annexation. But the proposed train station area annexation is different because of these businesses, Resource Management Director Bill Emlen wrote to the board.

The county takes in about $185,000 annually in sales taxes and other revenues from the businesses that it would lose if Fairfield annexes the area. It also spends about $123,000 for such things as law enforcement and other services for the area that Fairfield would take over upon annexation.

As a result, the agreement calls for Fairfield to pay the county $62,000 annually to make up the difference. These payments would last until 300 homes are built in the annexation area and the county’s share of property tax increase reaches an estimated $185,000.

Solano County under the agreement agrees to support Fairfield’s train station community annexation requests.

But the agreement does not approve the annexations. That issue will go before the county Local Agency Formation Commission starting at its Oct. 15 meeting, city project consultant Ron Rowland said.

That initial annexation request before LAFCO is for the 1,245-acre first phase, which does not include the area with the rural businesses. The businesses are within a 1,044-acre second annexation phase that Rowland expects to go before LAFCO in early 2013.

Fairfield has also reached an annexation agreement with the Fairfield Suisun Rockville Cemetery District, Rowland said. The cemetery district will see its service boundaries expand if the annexations go forward.

The city has not reached an agreement with the Vacaville Fire Protection District, he said. The fire district presently serves the rural area and would no longer do so upon annexation. District officials have expressed concern about losing property tax money.

Reach Barry Eberling at 427-6929, or beberling@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beberlingdr.

Barry Eberling

Barry Eberling has been a reporter with the Daily Republic since 1987. He covers Solano County government, transportation, growth and the environment. He received his bachelors of art degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his masters degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley.

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