Dear Cambrians,

I wanted to clear up some misconceptions surrounding the recent discussions of incorporation during our Finance Committee meeting on January 23, 2024. Several months ago, an Ad Hoc Committee was formed under the Finance Committee and was tasked with researching how to enhance, generate, or discover new sources of revenue for the District. Specifically, the task was to investigate strategies to increase General Fund revenues. The ad hoc was formed on April 25, 2023, during the Finance Committee meeting. The original Ad Hoc Committee members were David Pierson and the late Cindy Steidel. Mr. Scott McCann has subsequently stepped in to fill that void.  

Throughout that assignment (which is ongoing), several avenues were researched, one of which was incorporation. Most recently, a brief report on the initial pros and cons of incorporation was presented before the Finance Committee. However, that was just a small piece of the overall research completed by the Ad Hoc Committee. The full report on their entire research isn't complete, and no action was taken. The Finance Committee will meet again in February and have a final draft of the Ad Hoc Committee report with supporting documents.

To be clear, the Finance Committee is merely an advisory committee that can research and recommend items to the Board for consideration; that has yet to happen.

Furthermore, the Board has yet to direct staff or the committee to pursue incorporation. The Ad Hoc Committee is strictly in an exploratory phase of looking into how the District can increase revenues. Cambrian's, I know discussions on such topics of incorporation can generate questions and stir up emotions and anxiety; rest assured, this was only one of several areas in which they are looking for revenue enhancement. However, anything of this magnitude would be brought before the Board for a lengthy discussion that would include several opportunities for public input. Please feel free to contact me with any other questions. 

Matthew McElhenie