London Moeder Advisors will carry out the analysis to help a county agency determine whether La Jolla’s independence from San Diego is viable.
A comprehensive fiscal analysis of a proposed city of La Jolla will begin in August, following the recent selection of London Moeder Advisors, led by Gary London, to carry out the work.
The CFA is part of the Association for the City of La Jolla’s application to the San Diego County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) for La Jolla to incorporate away from the city of San Diego and become its own municipality.
It’s a multiyear project for ACLJ, which has undertaken the effort under its belief that a city of La Jolla would benefit La Jollans and San Diegans greatly and not result in a loss of income for San Diego.
London and London Moeder were unanimously approved by a LAFCO selection committee including representatives from ACLJ, San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s office, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, San Diego Municipal Employees Association and LAFCO.
The CFA will model and evaluate 10-year revenue and expenditure projections for the proposed city of La Jolla, assess its ability to deliver municipal services and maintain financial stability and analyze revenue neutrality for affected agencies, most notably San Diego.
ACLJ’s preliminary fiscal analysis, released in 2024, showed that an incorporated La Jolla would have to pay about $8 million to San Diego annually for a negotiated number of years.
London has previously said La Jolla should not become its own city, telling the San Diego Union-Tribune in 2023 fiscal and political challenges would temper the strength of ACLJ’s case.
Those comments, ACLJ said in a press release, mean London’s appointment to conduct the CFA reflect ACLJ’s “commitment to a rigorous, transparent process.”
No city has incorporated from another city in the entirety of California since Coronado detached from San Diego in 1890, in a poorly-documented process before the establishment of the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, which codified procedures for changes to local government organization.
This unprecedented move means London Moeder is “committed to conducting a fair and independent fiscal analysis, which carefully addresses fiscally sound approaches to how to achieve this should San Diego voters favor the proposal,” London said in a statement.
London Moeder’s appointment “marks the beginning of an important and statutorily required phase of LAFCO’s review process,” said LAFCO assistant executive officer Priscilla Mumpower.
“We look forward to working collaboratively with the applicants, the city of San Diego and other interested stakeholders as the analysis moves forward and information is developed to support future public review and commission consideration.”
The draft CFA is expected to be completed in June 2027, after which a 90-day public review will take place, followed by community workshops and the preparation of the final CFA, anticipated by January 2028.
If LAFCO determines La Jolla cityhood is feasible, the matter moves to a ballot measure. La Jolla residents would have to vote to approve incorporation and voters in the rest of the city of San Diego would also have to vote their approval.
ACLJ is aiming for a November 2028 ballot placement.
