The process of incorporating is quite an endeavor.  Here we'll help you better understand all the terminology used in the incorporation studies.  

LAFCO.   Local Agency Formation Commission - The legislature established a LAFCO in each county to be responsible for overseeing most forms of local government boundary change, including incorporation, annexations, and special district formations.

CEQA.   California Environmental Quality Act, the law regulating the environmental review process.

CFA.   Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis, an exhaustive and detailed analysis of the projected revenues and expenditures resulting from a proposed incorporation.

Contract City.   A city that provides most of its municipal services through a contract(s) with service providers such as special districts, the county or private companies providing municipal services.

CSA.   County Service Area - the California Legislature established the County Service Area Law to provide an alternative method of providing governmental services by counties within unincorporated areas. There are four County Service Areas in Alamo: P-2B, P-5 and P-6 which provide enhanced police services and R-7A which provides park and recreation services.

Feasible.   A term defined by law as capable of being accomplished in a successful manner within a reasonable period of time, taking into account economic, legal, social, and technological factors.

IFA.  Initial Fiscal Analysis, a preliminary analysis of the projected revenues and expenditures of from a proposed incorporation. This is also known more informally as the Feasibility Study.

Incorporation Proponent.   A person or persons who file a Notice of Intent to circulate a petition to initiate LAFCO review of a proposed incorporation.

Metes and Bounds.   Metes and bounds describes the perimeter of a parcel of land. A metes and bounds description is often lengthy, as it may contain bearings and distances for each line, descriptive geometry of each curve, and references to other adjacent or nearby parcels of land.

Mitigation.   Mitigation includes: avoiding environmental impacts by not taking a certain action or parts of an action; minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation; rectifying the impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the impacted environment; reducing or eliminating the impact over time by preservation and maintenance operations during the life of the action; and, compensating for the impact by replacing or providing substitute resources or environments.

P-2B.   Police Services County Service Area.

P-5 .   Police Services County Service Area (Roundhill).

R-7A.   Alamo Parks and Recreation County Service Area.

Revenue Neutrality.   The intent of the California Legislature that any incorporation should result in a similar exchange of both revenue and responsibility for service delivery among the county, the proposed city, and other affected agencies and that an incorporation should not occur primarily for financial reasons.

RFP.   Request for Proposal - the first step in obtaining consultants to perform a service, such as a study.

SOI.   Sphere of Influence, A Sphere of Influence (SOI) means a plan for the probable future boundaries and service area of a local agency, as determined by LAFCO.

Special District .  Special districts are a form of local government created by a local community to meet a specific need. Inadequate tax bases and competing demands for existing taxes make it hard for cities and counties to provide all the services their citizens desire. When residents or landowners want new services or higher levels of existing services, they can form a district to pay for and administer them.