The El Dorado Hills Fire Department board will vote Thursday, Oct. 15, on whether to adopt formal comments on the proposed incorporation of El Dorado Hills as a city.

The agenda item puts the fire district officially on record with the El Dorado County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), which is reviewing the cityhood application. LAFCO comments are due by Nov. 1, according to remarks Fire Chief Mike Lilienthal made at the board's Sept. 17 meeting.

The comments themselves have not been made public. The Oct. 15 agenda lists the item under new business as "Review and approve the Department's formal comments regarding the LAFCO project related to the proposed El Dorado Hills incorporation (Cityhood)."

The fire district has a direct financial stake in how incorporation plays out. Under the proposal outlined in the Final Initial Study/Negative Declaration the El Dorado Hills Community Services District adopted Sept. 10, fire districts would continue collecting their share of property tax and fees inside a new city. The city would not receive that revenue.

Incorporation would also redesignate certain areas from state-managed Wildland Fire State Responsibility Areas to Local Fire Responsibility Areas. That shift would make the city and its fire provider, rather than the state, responsible for wildland fire protection. A 2021 preliminary fiscal analysis estimated a potential CAL FIRE contract for those areas could cost $700,000 to $800,000 annually, though that figure predates the current application.

Board Directors Dan Donelli and Teri Gotro, who sit on the Regionalization Committee, reviewed the draft comments at a Tuesday, Oct. 13 committee meeting ahead of the full board vote. The board has five members. It also includes President Greg Durante, Vice President Timothy J. White and Director Debbie Manning.

The cityhood effort dates to May 1, 2025, when the Community Services District board voted 4-0 to begin the incorporation process through LAFCO. The CSD filed its formal application in June 2025. LAFCO required environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act before accepting the application, and the CSD adopted the required Negative Declaration on Sept. 10.

The proposed city boundary covers roughly 18,200 acres with an estimated population of 51,000 and about 36,000 registered voters. El Dorado Hills voters rejected a previous cityhood proposal in 2005, when only 43.6% voted yes.

The Oct. 15 open session begins at 6 p.m. at 1050 Wilson Blvd. in El Dorado Hills. Residents can also attend via Zoom (Webinar ID: 875 0317 6283, Passcode: 809315) or submit written comments to [email protected].