Isla Vista Community Services District Hosts Annual Budget Town Hall

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Isla Vista, CA – Isla Vista Community Services District (IVCSD) hosted a hybrid Budget Town Hall on Wednesday, April 27th. The meeting was held in person at the Isla Vista Community Center as well as via Zoom. Spanish and ASL interpretation was provided over Zoom along with closed captioning. Attendees were invited to provide feedback on the 2022-2023 IVCSD budget priorities. 

Carrie Topliffe, Chair of the Finance Committee, provided an overview of the goals for the Town Hall meeting. In honor of IVCSD’s vision, “For Isla Vista, by Isla Vista, building the community we deserve” IVCSD called on residents to participate in the Budget Town Hall as well as a Budget Priorities Survey. This was an opportunity to share community feedback on how community dollars are spent. The meeting started off with a brief overview of the revenue estimates, areas of spending, ongoing community programs, and potential/continuing project for 2022-2023. 

IVCSD is estimating to raise $1,050,000 this year in taxes, paid by residents of Isla Vista through Measure R2018, to spend on improvements for the community. Residents and property owners in Isla Vista pay 8% on water, electricity, gas, and sewage bills that make up the Utility User’s Tax. UCSB partnered with IVCSD from 2017 to 2024 to provide an annual $200,000 contribution to IVCSD for mutually agreed-upon projects. IVCSD can draw up to $300,000 from this revenue stream due to rollover from previous years. Another revenue source is from programs that have a fund balance that has carried over previous years. That revenue will be calculated at the end of this fiscal year. 

The District is authorized to spend funds on public safety, community planning, public works, parking, community programs, and rental housing mediation. Government code 61250 gives IVCSD the ability and authority to support the community of Isla Vista. As a local government, the District has the ability to staff programs and provide outreach and advertising. 

The ongoing programs that IVCSD currently provides include the Isla Vista Community Center and Community Room, Rental Housing Mediation Program, Isla Vista Compost Collective, Isla Vista Beautiful, Community Garden, Isla Vista Safety Stations, Survivor Resource Center, and Interpersonal Violence Investigator. There are a number of potential and continuing projects for 2022-2023 that were shared. These included a Parking Study, Isla Vista Community Planning Report, Isla Vista Mobility Plan, unarmed response to community issues, Isla Vista Community Festivals, a new community garden location, and adding compost pile locations. 

The meeting concluded with an overview of the feedback shared in the Budget Priorities survey where residents have shared input on a range of issues including public safety, community programs, parking/transportation, lighting, planning, strengthening sustainability, and more. To watch the recording of Town Hall in English click here and for the Spanish recording click here. 

Residents of Isla Vista are encouraged to participate in the Budget Priorities Survey. The ideas and values shared with the District will directly improve decision-making and community programs. The District will provide an analysis of the feedback shared in the Budget Priorities Survey and that will be available on the website next month. 

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The Isla Vista Community Services District is Isla Vista’s first broad based local government, achieving 47 years of community advocacy for self governance. The IVCSD is empowered to provide eight critical services including public safety, housing mediation, community facilities, parking, graffiti abatement, lighting and sidewalks, and both a municipal advisory council and area planning commission. The Board is composed of five publicly elected directors and two directors appointed by UC Santa Barbara and the County of Santa Barbara.