Local Agency Formation Commission

What Local Agency Formation Commission does

The Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County (San Bernardino LAFCO) is an independent regulatory agency of the State of California, established under the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act (California Government Code Section 56000 et seq.). It holds exclusive statutory authority over the formation of new cities and special districts, annexations, sphere-of-influence updates, dissolutions, and reorganizations within San Bernardino County, which at 20,000 square miles is the largest county in the continental United States. The Commission also conducts mandatory municipal service reviews and addresses the service needs of disadvantaged unincorporated communities.

San Bernardino LAFCO serves 24 incorporated cities and towns, 51 independent special districts, and over 100 dependent districts. Its core service offerings include formal application and proposal processing, comprehensive service reviews, a GIS-based interactive agency mapping system with a sewer collection service look-up tool, a Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities program, and a Pilot Program under California Government Code section 56133.5. The Commission's public-facing infrastructure runs on the Streamline web platform, supporting document publication, public notices, and meeting agendas consistent with the Brown Act.

The agency's revenue model is anchored in statutorily authorized application and processing fees, supplemented by apportionments among affected agencies per the adopted Fee Schedule. The 2026/2027 fee schedule, budget, and apportionment are publicly available. Operations are funded through a stable, mandate-backed revenue stream with no dependence on private capital, fundraising, or competitive market dynamics.

Name

Local Agency Formation Commission

Legal name

Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County

Website

https://sbclafco.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

San Bernardino LAFCO is a California state-mandated regulatory commission that reviews and approves local agency formations, annexations, and reorganizations for the 24 cities, 51 independent districts, and 100+ dependent districts within San Bernardino County.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Regulatory Services

NAICS

Executive and Legislative Offices, Combined (92114), Executive Offices (921110), Executive, Legislative, and Other General Government Support (921)

akta.pro primary industry

Planning, Zoning, Permitting & Code Enforcement (BPAIACAE)

Keywords

• Local government oversight
• Agency formation regulation
• Municipal boundary review
• Special district services
• Public agency administration

Headquarters

HQ city

San Bernardino

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County is a state-mandated regulatory agency that reviews and approves the formation of new cities and special districts, annexations of territory, and reorganizations of local government agencies within San Bernardino County. It conducts statutory service reviews of municipal and special district operations, oversees programs addressing disadvantaged unincorporated communities, and maintains GIS mapping for jurisdictional boundaries and sewer service look-ups across the 20,000 square mile county.

Product overview

Local Agency Formation Commission for San Bernardino County operates as a regulatory commission providing government administrative services. The organization offers a portfolio of services including Applications/Proposals processing, Service Reviews, GIS Maps (with Agency Mapping and Sewer Collection Service Look-up), Disadvantaged Unincorporated Communities support, and Pilot Program §56133.5. The website is built on the Streamline platform and serves the largest county in the continental United States, covering 20,000 square miles with 24 cities/towns, 51 independent districts, and over 100 dependent districts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Applications and Proposals Processing

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• CALAFCO (California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions)coreOthersStatewide professional association of all 58 California LAFCOs. CALAFCO provides educational resources, legislative advocacy, best practice guidelines, and professional development for LAFCO commissioners and staff across California. San Bernardino LAFCO participates in CALAFCO activities and references the association on their website for those interested in learning about LAFCOs throughout the state.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Santa Clara LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for Santa Clara County — operates under the same California statutory framework, overseeing formation, annexation, and reorganization of cities and special districts. Comparable in scope and digital public-facing services.
• San Diego LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for San Diego County — another large Southern California LAFCO with identical statutory authority, similar portfolio of municipal and special-district oversight, and GIS-based public mapping tools. Strong direct peer.
• Los Angeles LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for Los Angeles County — operates under the same California Government Code §56000 et seq. mandate as San Bernardino LAFCO, with the same functions of approving city formations, annexations, and special-district reorganizations within its county. Most directly comparable peer given identical statutory role and similar county-wide jurisdiction.
• Riverside LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for Riverside County — neighboring Inland Empire LAFCO operating under identical Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg authority with overlapping customer base of cities and special districts in adjacent Southern California counties. Directly comparable regulatory scope and service mix.
• Orange County LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for Orange County — performs the same formation, annexation, and service-review functions under California Government Code §56000 et seq. Comparable mandate, scale of regulated entities, and reliance on apportionment funding.
• Contra Costa LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for Contra Costa County — another Bay Area LAFCO operating under identical California law with comparable municipal and special-district oversight responsibilities and similar digital public tools.
• Alameda LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for Alameda County — Bay Area LAFCO with identical statutory duties for local-agency formation and reorganization. Comparable regulatory scope, GIS mapping practices, and apportionment funding.
• Sacramento LAFCO: Local Agency Formation Commission for Sacramento County — performs the same boundary-review and service-review functions for the capital region under California Government Code §56000 et seq. Comparable in mandate, fee/apportionment funding model, and customer base of municipalities and special districts.

Emerging players

• CALAFCO (California Association of LAFCOs): Statewide professional association of all 58 California LAFCOs. Not a regulator but the central coordination, advocacy, and training body that San Bernardino LAFCO formally partners with; comparable as the institutional hub for the same regulatory ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• California Coastal Commission: State-level regulatory body that, like LAFCO, performs quasi-legislative land-use and jurisdictional review under California statute. Not a direct competitor but a comparable broad-incumbent California regulatory agency with overlapping policy areas around growth, annexation, and land preservation that LAFCO also addresses.

Market position

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/local-agency-formation-commission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Local Agency Formation Commission