Isla Vista, a small, unincorporated part of Santa Barbara County, has commissioned a study to see if the community can afford to become its own city.
Jonathan Abboud, the general manager for the Isla Vista Community Services District, says that becoming a city would give Isla Vista more control over their own laws and their own taxes.
“Which is what, you know, the United States of America was founded on,” Abboud said.
The community of Isla Vista neighbors the UC Santa Barbara campus. It’s considered becoming a city for years.
The last real attempt was in 2015, but that push ended instead with the founding of the Isla Vista Community Services District in 2016.
Abboud says that right now seems like a good time to consider the issue again, since crime has decreased and revenue from taxes is up.
Housing has also become more expensive over the last ten years.
“A city would be able to make special laws for Isla Vista that the county might not make or couldn't make, like a rent control,” Abboud told KCBX.
He says a city could also change zoning to encourage more housing, which could also lower costs.
Isla Vista has commissioned Berkson Associates to create the fiscal analysis on whether the community could afford to become a city.
“ It's supposed to look at the different numbers related to cityhood,” Abboud said. “What the city makes, what the county loses, how it all balances together.”
Abboud says that analysis is only an initial look, and more studies will be needed if the results are positive. The analysis is due to be completed sometime this summer.
