The Lompoc City Council voted to consent to inclusion of the city in the Santa Barbara County Wine Business Improvement District, approving resolution 673325 to apply the district's initial five-year term to wineries within Lompoc's jurisdiction.

The measure passed 3-0 with two abstentions after staff and representatives of the Santa Barbara Vintners detailed how the district would work and answered questions from council members and local vintners. Council members placed on the public record a request for an annual independent audit and a five-year return to council for reconsideration; the city attorney told council those stipulations can be recorded as commitments but may not be legally enforceable within the consent resolution.

Lisonbee Laslett, chief executive officer of the Santa Barbara Vintners, told the council the district would be industry-led, not a tax on government, and designed to fund marketing and related programs. "It is not a tax. This is a business led initiative to fund the wine industry," Laslett said, and described the assessment as "1% on all direct to consumer sales," including tasting-room purchases, wine‑club sales, events, food and merchandise but excluding wholesale and out-of-state sales.

Laslett said countywide retail sales for Santa Barbara County's wineries were estimated at about $165,000,000 and that a 1% assessment would generate roughly $1,650,000 annually; those figures were presented to council members and the public as estimates produced by HDL, the tax consulting firm that would collect the assessment and remit funds to the Vintners minus a 2% administration fee.

City staff briefed council on the procedural history: council considered the same consent in January but did not reach the three‑vote majority the city said is required under "government code section 36,936" for consent to the district. Christie Donnelly, Lompoc's management services director, reiterated staff's recommendation that the council adopt resolution 673325 consenting to inclusion of the city in the district for the initial five‑year term.

Public comment at the meeting was strongly in favor of joining the district, with vintners and tasting-room operators saying county marketing would drive visitors to Lompoc and benefit local hotels, restaurants and retailers. "The goal of the bid is not to assess and take money from wineries. The goal of the bid is to have a collective where we all come together," said Keith, identified in public comment as a vintner. Supporters said the Vintners' past grant-funded marketing produced measurable visitation and retail sales increases.

Opponents and some smaller operators raised concerns about assessments being mandatory for retail sellers, the potential for increases in consumer prices if wineries pass on the fee, and whether smaller producers would receive fair representation and benefits. A commenter who identified themselves as a tasting‑room worker opposed mandatory inclusion, saying they had not been consulted and worried about being forced into a program they did not join.

Council members and Santa Barbara Vintners representatives addressed oversight and representation questions during the meeting. Laslett and other Vintners representatives said the association would hold annual nonprofit audits, HDL would perform annual collections audits, and the Vintners would report to the county annually. Council members requested that the Vintners provide jurisdiction-level HDL sales data used to calculate assessment projections and that the association commit on the record to transparent reporting and inclusion of Lompoc tasting rooms in programming.

The formal motion approved by council consented to Lompoc's inclusion in the Santa Barbara County Wine Business Improvement District for the district's initial five-year term and placed on the public record the council's expectation of an annual independent audit and a five-year return to council for reconsideration. The clerk recorded the outcome as "approved" with a 3-0 vote and two abstentions. City staff and Vintners representatives said administrative steps, including registration of assessed wineries with HDL and program start-up, will follow the council's action.

Next steps described at the meeting include HDL finalizing collection processes, the Santa Barbara Vintners preparing a management district plan and program budget, and the Vintners working to onboard participating Lompoc wineries. The council's action allows Lompoc wineries to be assessed under the district; the council noted it will monitor implementation and review progress when the district returns to the council after five years.