LAFCO Commissioners have a responsibility to exercise their independent judgment while making decisions concerning appropriate local governmental boundaries and service providers. Each LAFCO is responsible for coordinating logical and timely changes in local governmental boundaries, conducting special studies that review ways to reorganize, simplify, and streamline governmental structure, and preparing a Sphere of Influence for each city and special district within its county.

The Commission’s efforts are directed toward seeing that services are provided efficiently and economically while agricultural and open-space lands are protected. To better inform itself and the community as it seeks to exercise its charge; each LAFCO must conduct Municipal Service Reviews to evaluate the provision of municipal services within its county.

Another one of LAFCOs responsibilities is its regulatory role. By law, any proposals for changes of organization of special districts or cities are subject to LAFCO review, pursuant to Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg (CKH) Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000 (Government Code §§ 56000 et seq), and approved by the Local Agency Formation Commission.

In addition, LAFCO must review:

• Developing and updating Spheres of Influence (SOI) (Government Code §§ 56000 et seq).  or each city and special district within the county. Spheres are planning tools that represent the physical boundaries and service areas that local governmental agencies are expected to serve in the future. Sphere of Influences are used to provide guidance for individual proposals involving jurisdictional changes. They are intended to review ways to reorganize, simplify, and consolidate governmental structure to prevent duplication of service delivery. Territory must be within a city or district’s sphere in order to be annexed.

Changes of organization mean any of the following:

• City incorporation (create a city);
• District formation (create a district);
• Annexations (add land to a city or special district);
• Detachments of territory (removal of land from a city or special district);
• Disincorporation of a city (termination of the existence of a city);
• Dissolution of a district (termination of the existence of a district);
• Consolidation of cities or special districts;
• Merger or establishment of a subsidiary district;
• The regulation, through approval or denial on the review of contractual service agreements between property owners and service providers for boundary changes;
• Reorganizations (combinations of the above-listed  jurisdictional changes);

In its regulatory function, the Commission’s review of a proposal generally focuses on the following issues:

• Boundaries. Do the proposed service boundaries make sense? Do they represent a logical and recognizable area within which services can be provided?
  
• Financial Effects. What are the financial implications of the proposal on local governments and landowners within the study area?
  
• Service Effects. What are the range and levels of services that will be provided if the proposal is successful? Will the proposal adversely affect the ability of any governmental agency to provide service?
  
• Environmental Effects. What are the possible environmental consequences of a proposal?