The Abridged version:
- A group called Eastern Placer Future has been studying the idea of forming a new city in Tahoe for more than three years.
- If residents of Eastern Placer County get a chance to form their own city, that would bring local government closer to home and create more control over local services and development decisions.
- There is no formal opposition to the idea yet, but skeptics fear a new town might mean higher taxes without improvement to municipal services.
Imagine having to drive 80 miles to get to City Hall.
For residents of Tahoe City, Kings Beach and other North Lake Tahoe communities, that’s their reality.
They must climb and cross Donner Pass before descending through the Sierra foothills to Placer County’s headquarters in Auburn, sometimes fighting winter conditions that require four-wheel drive or snow chains for much of the way.
But that might soon be changing, if residents of eastern Placer County get a chance to form their own city, which would bring local government closer to home and create more control over local services and development decisions.
A group called Eastern Placer Future has been studying the idea for more than three years. It appears to have gathered enough signatures from local voters to begin a formal process that could lead to an election in November 2026.
Cityhood backers want more attention
Andrew Ryan, one of the group’s leaders, said the problem is bigger than the inconvenience of a long drive to look a government official in the eye. Many of the area’s approximately 13,000 residents, he said, feel like their needs and viewpoints are neglected by a county Board of Supervisors dominated by interests on the fast-growing western side of the Sierra.
The vast majority of Placer County’s more than 400,000 residents live in the Sacramento Valley and the foothills, with a different topography and climate, and a completely different economy. The Tahoe side of the county wrestles with snow in winter, wildfire danger in summer, a tourism-based economy, three major ski resorts and a large number of second-homeowners.
“There’s just different things happening on the west slope of the county than on the east side,” Ryan said. “We need a level of service and attention that often is not in the county’s normal wheelhouse.”
‘North Tahoe’ is the proposed city’s suggested name
The new town would include most of the area east of Donner Lake and outside the town of Truckee, which is part of Nevada County and became a city nearly 30 years ago. The new town would cover the west and north shores of Lake Tahoe, the Highway 89 corridor including Olympic and Alpine valleys, and the State Route 267 corridor from the Truckee border through Martis Valley and Northstar. The proposed name of the new town is North Tahoe, although that could change.
Supporters anticipate budget surplus
A preliminary analysis of the future town’s finances by a private consulting firm estimated that, based on current tax rates, the town would collect more revenue than it would need to spend to maintain current services, leaving a budget surplus of 27% in the first year. A local commission that oversees the formation of new cities would do a more detailed analysis before the question goes to voters. Ryan conceded that the eventual surplus could be smaller than the preliminary estimate.
Still, with valuable lakeside homes driving healthy property tax revenue and hotels and resorts collecting millions in tourism taxes, the proposed town would have a strong financial foundation.
The town would likely contract with the county Sheriff’s Department for law enforcement. Fire protection, water and sewer, trash collection and parks and recreation could continue to be handled by the independent special districts that blanket the region. A locally elected town council would manage land use planning, zoning, building permits, stormwater management, snow removal and road maintenance, among other municipal services.
Placer County Supervisor Cindy Gustafson, who represents Eastern Placer in a district that stretches from Lake Tahoe to Newcastle, said she is neutral on the incorporation proposal. But as a longtime resident of the area, Gustafson said she understands why Tahoe residents might support the change.
“The community has always felt that we’re a bit removed from Auburn in decision-making,” she said. “And I think that the public would like to see more land use control in our region by a local community. I think people do look at the success of the town of Truckee having local governance and a more vibrant downtown and ask if that could happen here with more local control.”
No organized opposition has surfaced
While there is no serious organized opposition to the idea yet, skeptics on social media have suggested that a new layer of government would lead to higher taxes with no guarantee that residents would get better service.
Gustafson said those concerns do need to be explored since state law requires a newly formed city to continue paying its fair share of countywide services. The Tahoe Basin’s regional limits on development might also mean that, over time, the cost of local services could rise faster than tax revenue.
But Ryan and other supporters say they believe the change would give local residents easier access to government services and more influence over decisions that affect their lives. Members of a town council elected by their neighbors would be more in touch with the problems faced by North Tahoe residents, they say.
“They’ll have a better understanding of the community’s priorities and what the impacts of decisions will be on the local community,” Ryan said. “A town can tailor snow removal, road maintenance and planning services specifically to North Tahoe’s needs, rather than reflecting much broader countywide priorities. It can set its own service levels for law enforcement through a local contract. It can create planning and building permit processes that reflect local requirements and ensure that local tax revenue is reinvested directly into local priorities.”
Is closer government better government?
Steve Teshara, a longtime Truckee resident who is working with the Eastern Placer group, said he has seen firsthand how local government works better when it is closer to the people it serves.
“Truckee is able to provide a much higher level of snow removal, road maintenance and seasonal road striping compared to what Nevada County previously provided,” he said.
He cited another benefit: Truckee’s elected and appointed officials are better positioned than county government to collaborate with the local special districts that provide many of the region’s services, and they advocate for the town’s interests with regional, state and federal agencies.
Ryan echoed that sentiment.
“The goal isn’t to duplicate services,” he said. “It’s to supplant them and make them more responsive, predictable and aligned with what this community values.”
Formal application could come in January
Eastern Placer Future needs about 2,100 signatures — 25% of registered voters within the boundaries of the proposed city — to move forward with the process. The group submitted about 2,300 on Dec. 2, and if those are confirmed, will submit a formal application in early January to the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees the process.
The commission would then complete a comprehensive financial analysis, hold public hearings and decide whether to approve or reject the application. If approved, the proposal would go to a vote of the residents in the proposed new city, with a simple majority of those voting required for approval.
A town council would likely be elected at the same time, although that could be done in a separate election.
Daniel Weintraub is a regular contributor, writing Tahoe Loco for Abridged.