Menifee’s 18-month quest to gain control over parks on the city’s east side could be fulfilled by early next year if a regional commission endorses the move Thursday, July 27.

The staff of the Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission is recommending the city take over management of the 22 parks and recreation facilities within Menifee that are under the Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District’s jurisdiction.

After Menifee became a city in 2008, it inherited control from the county of a handful of parks on the community’s west side.

The remaining parks outside of the county’s former control are under Valley-Wide. Headquartered in San Jacinto, Valley-Wide has been the agency in charge of recreation in a vast area ranging from San Jacinto and Hemet to the east to Interstate 215 and Menifee to the west since the district was formed more than 25 years ago.

Reasoning that the city’s Community Services Department should administer all public recreational features within Menifee’s boundaries, council members agreed in February 2017 to go forward with the process of obtaining them, which required them to apply to the commission in charge of approving government boundary alterations.

“In my opinion, it legitimizes the city and the department’s purpose to provide local control and local services to our residents, instead of them having to receive their services from an entity that’s based out of San Jacinto,” department Director Robert Lennox said in an interview Friday.

While the commissioners have been sympathetic to the change, the process, labeled a detachment, is complicated because the district raises tax revenue from residents both within Menifee and Valley-Wide’s boundaries to finance maintenance and landscaping of the facilities in the city.

Also, district and city officials have disagreed about some of the expense and revenue calculations involved in the transfer. District General Manager Dean Wetter said his agency’s board of directors continues to oppose the detachment.

“Valley-Wide has almost 30 years of experience doing the job in Menifee,” Wetter said. “We know the details. There are no surprises for us. … In reviewing the city’s transitional plan, we’ve identified some areas where it lacks some key components that deteriorate confidence that Menifee residents will have the same level of service if LAFCO approves the detachment.”

The complex issues have led to ongoing debate by the agencies involved and several postponements by the commission.

LAFCO’s staff contends in its recommendation for approval Thursday that Menifee’s takeover of taxation authority falls under provisions of Proposition 218 in the state constitution. That would undoubtedly require residents to vote on the establishment of new assessments replacing the ones they are now paying, an election the city hopes to avoid.

“The city firmly believes that we do not need to create a whole brand new special tax assessment district,” Lennox said. “We can use the ones that are there now and can simply transfer them over. That’s how LAFCO has approved annexations in the past. They have not required elections, even when those (tax) districts were bifurcated between two jurisdictions.”

IF YOU GO

What: Riverside Local Agency Formation Commission will discuss the city of Menifee’s application to take over parks from Valley-Wide Recreation and Park District

When: 9:30 a.m., Thursday, July 27

Where: Riverside County Administrative Center, First Floor, 4080 Lemon St., Riverside

Info: 951-369-0631 or lafco.org