The bid to incorporate Tahoe's Olympic Valley into its own town was dealt a potentially fatal blow last week.
After months of back and forth, the Placer County commission charged with overseeing Olympic Valley’s bid to become a town made a big decision last week. Finding that the town would face too many financial challenges, the commission proposed to vote on terminating the incorporation application as soon as it legally can.
"It's actually the only incorporation proposal in the state at the moment."
That's Kris Barry with the Placer County Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO. She says recent legal changes have made it difficult to incorporate: first, a new town has to pay the county for any revenue the county may lose as a result.
"Most people think of it as like alimony," Barry says.
Then, the start-up funding California used to provide for new towns is no longer available. "So now they don't get that startup money. So it's going to be very difficult these days for anybody to incorporate."
Proponents of incorporation have not yet responded to the LAFCO Commission’s findings. In a statement, Squaw Valley Ski Holdings CEO Andy Wirth said the town of Olympic Valley has never been financially viable.
