An EIFD is a financing tool, not a building. It lets a town capture the natural growth in its own property values and reinvest it in shared infrastructure — the Commons (library and senior center), but also road and street improvements and a walkable two-way downtown. Here's the plain-English version.
That reaction is fair — but an EIFD isn't that. An Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (California law, SB 628) does not raise anyone's tax rate, add a fee, or touch a single dollar meant for schools.
It does one thing: it lets the City and the County agree to take a slice of the future growth in property tax that's already going to happen anyway — and steer that slice back into local projects instead of letting all of it scatter into general budgets. The property you own is taxed at the exact same 1% either way. Nothing new is added to your bill.
The day the district is formed, the current property value in the area is written down as the baseline — a starting line. Everything the town already collects on that baseline keeps flowing exactly where it does today: police, fire, county services, schools.
As values rise over the years, only that new growth on top — the increment — gets partly set aside for the Commons. The base never shrinks. We're only ever sharing a portion of tomorrow's growth, never today's dollars.
Your property tax rate does not change by a penny. No new assessment, no new fee. You pay the same standard 1% you'd pay without the district.
Property values rise over time on their own. The district sets aside a share of that future increase — money that only exists because values grew.
Instead of all that growth scattering into wider budgets, the City and County reinvest an agreed share right here — the library, senior center, road and street improvements, downtown, flood resilience.
By California law, an EIFD cannot capture or touch a single dollar meant for school districts or community colleges. Education funding is untouched.
Because it captures growth, the money starts small and snowballs. Move the sliders to see how a district near the library and downtown could build a capital fund — without changing anyone's tax rate.
Adjust the four dials. Everything updates live.
In this example, over 30 years the district could set aside about $21 million for the Commons — money that only exists because property values grew, with no change to anyone's tax rate.
This is a simplified illustration to show the shape of how an EIFD works — not a formal projection. Real figures come from a professional feasibility study (the City is exploring this with public-finance advisors). Actual district boundaries, growth rates, and the exact share each agency contributes are set through the public process described below.
| The question | What it IS | What it is NOT |
|---|---|---|
| Your taxes | A capture of future, natural growth in property tax | A new tax, fee, or assessment on property owners |
| Schools | Legally barred from touching school or college funding | A drain on local schools or community colleges |
| What it funds | Long-term capital — buildings, parks, streets, resilience | Day-to-day operating costs or staffing |
| Who decides | Formed by local elected bodies after public hearings | Something imposed with no public process |
| The risk | Backed only by the growth it captures | A debt on the City or County general fund |
Both, and it's worth being straight about it. An EIFD captures value growth that happens for any reason — the automatic Prop 13 increase, homes changing hands, new construction. So the Commons does not have to single-handedly cause the growth for the district to work. It depends on that broad, natural growth to fill the fund.
But a strong project also helps. A vibrant civic hub and a walkable two-way downtown draw investment, lift nearby property values, and prime the pump. That connection — in the professionals' language, the "but-for" case: but for this investment, this growth wouldn't happen — is exactly what makes the strongest districts. So the most honest framing is: it leans on growth to function, and it strengthens growth to justify itself.
Forming an EIFD follows a strict, public sequence — the steps must happen in order, with real waiting periods for the community to weigh in. Because Sebastopol serves as the hub for West County, partnering with Sonoma County lets both put a share of their growth toward shared assets like the library, senior center, and surrounding road and street improvements.
The Sebastopol City Council and Sonoma County Board of Supervisors each adopt a "Resolution of Intention," and form a joint Public Financing Authority — the board that will run the district. By law it must include elected officials plus at least two everyday members of the public who live or work in the district.
Staff and finance advisors write the Infrastructure Financing Plan — the master document. It draws the district boundaries, projects 30–45 years of growth, sets the exact share each agency contributes, and lists the specific projects eligible for funding (the Commons hub, library upgrades, road and street improvements, walkable downtown corridors).
A series of noticed public meetings, with required waiting periods between them, so no one is rushed.
Intro meeting → 60+ days → First hearing → 30+ days → Protest hearingAt the final hearing the formal protest period closes. If fewer than 25% of landowners or registered voters formally object, the Authority can adopt the plan. If a majority protest, it stops.
Once approved, the plan is filed with the State and the County Assessor. Today's property values are locked in as the baseline, and the district begins capturing its agreed share of future growth — for up to 45 years.
Because the fund grows gradually, an EIFD is rarely a lump sum on day one. It's usually paired with early grants or county seed money to break ground — and then the growing increment either reimburses those costs over time or pays off construction bonds. Think of it as a dependable, long-term engine that makes a big project financially possible, not a check that clears tomorrow.
That's why anchoring Building the Commons inside a financing plan matters: it gives the project the institutional permanence and funding runway a true regional asset needs.
Framed as a regional civic anchor — not just a building remodel — an EIFD is the most sensible, no-new-tax way for the City and County to co-invest in West County's future. I'll keep sharing plain-English updates as this moves forward.