Historic tiny Sacramento County town has king-size problems - Los Angeles Times: "Not to mention that 'disincorporation' is complicated and expensive. The last California city to pull the plug on itself is believed to have been Cabazon in Riverside County, about 1972. The process would cost Isleton about $250,000, and the government would still have to provide full services even as it breathed its last.

If Isleton had that kind of money, Pope noted, it wouldn't need to commit civic suicide. His city may be too poor to live, but it's also too poor to die.

Many of Isleton's miseries have been self-inflicted, but it's far from the only California city in difficult straits. Hard-luck Rio Vista, just across the Sacramento River, has consulted with bankruptcy attorneys but managed to cut its way to relative safety -- for now. Vallejo, 36 miles northwest, filed for bankruptcy protection in May.

Watsonville closed all city services except police and fire for two weeks over the holidays. Calexico declared a fiscal emergency last week.

The state's 10 biggest cities are more than a quarter-billion dollars in the red this fiscal year. Next year, San Francisco and Los Angeles predict a combined $1-billion deficit."
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In California, there is a race to ghost town status between CIDs and municipalities. Who will be the last one standing?