Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs) were introduced by the California Legislature from 2014-2015, enabling a new model for financing infrastructure and economic development in California. Government Code Sections 53398.50 through 53398.88 (EIFD law) authorizes EIFDs to issue bonds to finance public capital facilities. The available revenue for bonding is the increment of property tax and vehicle license fees within the established boundary, starting from the Fiscal Year after the ordinance to form the EIFD is passed. An EIFD is not a new tax imposed on property owners.

Project Overview

On October 23, 2018, the Board of Supervisors adopted Resolution No. 2018-203, which proposed establishment of the Salton Sea Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District.  The proposed scope and purpose of the Salton Sea Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District included financing for the planning, design and construction of an earthen dam in the Riverside County territory of the Salton Sea however, this EIFD was not formally established and the Board of Supervisors formally rescinded Resolution No. 2018-203.  With the desire to expand the scope of services from the previously proposed Salton Sea, on January 24 2023, the Board of Supervisors initiated the process of establishing an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) for the Eastern Coachella Valley.  The purpose of the EIFD is to establish a funding mechanism that can finance water and wastewater, transportation, utilities and telecommunications, and other needed public infrastructure, in addition to Salton Sea improvements in the Eastern Coachella Valley.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EIFD WILL NOT RESULT IN ANY NEW TAXES OR FEES TO THE PROPERTY OWNERS

Once established, the incremental property taxes collected by the County in the EIFD area above the amount collected in the base year (expected to be 2023) would be specifically used to fund the infrastructure projects listed in the Infrastructure Financing Plan (IFP).