IFF Case Studies
County of Los Angeles West Carson Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD)
In May 2020, Los Angeles County approved a
Resolution of Intent to establish an EIFD in unincorporated West
Carson, making it one of the first County-initiated EIFDs in the
State. The goal of the West Carson EIFD is to fund the
development projects outlined in the 2019 West Carson Transit
Oriented District Specific Plan. The boundaries of the EIFD are
the I-110 highway to the east, Normandie Avenue to the west, Del
Amo Boulevard to the north, and Lomita Boulevard to the south.
The West Carson EIFD is one of SCAG’s most recent Pilot TIF
projects.
City of Placentia/County of Orange Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD)
The Placentia EIFD will fund
transit-supportive and housing-supportive infrastructure in the
communities directly to the north and south of the upcoming
Placentia Metrolink Station, which will serve communities along
State Route 91 – one of the busiest and most congest
transportation corridors in Southern California. Specific
improvements will include street upgrades, lighting
infrastructure, pedestrian connectivity, as well as sewer and
water infrastructure enhancements to increase housing capacity,
as well as upgrades to the landscape. These investments are
estimated to cost around $8 million, and will support an
additional 1,600 housing units, 3,900 construction jobs, 1,150
permanent jobs that can help generate $800 million in economic
output from construction activities, and $164 million in annual
ongoing economic output.
To reach district formation, the process was initiated when the City of Placentia approved a Resolution of Intent on February 19, 2019 supporting the establishment of an EIFD in the areas surrounding the upcoming station, including the Old Town Placentia Area as well as the Transit Oriented Development Packing House District. The Orange County Board of Supervisors evaluated and supported a similar resolution on April 23, 2019. The City of Placentia / County of Orange EIFD was then established in September 2019 and became the first city/county EIFD partnership in California, when the District’s Public Financing Authority (PFA) officially approved its Infrastructure Financing Plan (IFP). The Placentia EIFD is one of SCAG’s Pilot TIF projects. Visually explore the Placentia EIFD through the City of Placentia EIFD Story Map.
Official information on the EIFD can be found at
https://www.placentia.org/860/Enhanced-Infrastructure-Financing-Distri
RELEVANT TOOLS
Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure
EIFDs can also be utilized to fund
emerging climate change resilience strategies, such as
Climate-Safe Infrastructure. This section will provide some
background on and discuss how EIFDs could serve as a financing
tool for Climate-Safe Infrastructure.
Background
With the State facing increasing temperatures, extreme heat waves, rising sea levels, and longer wildfire seasons, it is imperative that California’s cities and counties are adaptive and resilient to this changing climate. The State has passed several legislative measures to incorporate climate change considerations in local planning, such as Senate Bill (SB) 379 which requires cities and counties to incorporate climate adaptation strategies in their Safety Elements and Senate Bill 1035 which modifies SB 379’s timeline so that data on climate adaptation in Safety Elements is regularly updated. Additionally, Senate Bill (SB) 1241 requires jurisdictions to consider fire hazards, especially in communities or unincorporated communities in the state responsibility areas that are in high fire severity areas. Assembly Bill 2911 strengthened SB 1241’s local very high fire severity designation areas.