A Wildomar resident seeks to block the transfer of several million dollars to the would-be cities of Wildomar and Menifee Valley after they incorporate, a move he contends would violate state law, according to his lawsuit against Riverside County.

The lawsuit, filed in Riverside Superior Court on Wednesday by Gerard Ste. Marie, does not directly challenge recent decisions to allow the two communities to incorporate. But the funds that St. Marie is targeting are seen as crucial for supporting public services if the two communities incorporate.

The Board of Supervisors, the five-member panel named as the defendant in the lawsuit, signed off July 31 on a plan to pay the two cities for fire protection and services it would no longer have to provide directly to their respective residents.

Financial planners for the county have estimated that Wildomar's incorporation would save the county about $2.2 million from July 2008 through June 2018. Planners estimated that Menifee Valley's incorporation would save the county $3.8 million to $14 million, depending on its boundaries, which would include Menifee, Sun City, Quail Valley and possibly parts of Romoland.

Ste. Marie contends that Article 16, Section 6, of the state Constitution prohibits the county from transferring the money without guarantees that the cities would use it to fund particular services.

Supervisors Jeff Stone, whose district includes Menifee and Sun City, and Bob Buster, who represents the 22,000 residents of Wildomar, have generally supported the cityhood efforts, while insisting that voters in the two areas be given the chance to vote.

"They're funding their political ambitions at the cost of the taxpayers' of the county," Ste. Marie said Thursday.

Both supervisors criticized the lawsuit when reached Thursday afternoon.

"I think it's nonsense," Buster said of the lawsuit. "The county would have to spend that money if the communities did not incorporate."

"I think it's going to be deemed frivolous," Stone said.

Using $25,000 of his own money, Ste. Marie raised a similar objection and others in the spring, a move that delayed a vote on Wildomar's cityhood from May to August. But State Controller John Chiang dismissed the objection, and the cityhood bid was approved 6-0 by a panel representing Riverside County and the various cities located within it. Residents in Wildomar are expected to vote on incorporation on Feb. 5.

Voters in Menifee Valley, whose population the panel estimates as high as 60,500, could vote on cityhood as soon as June, with the city incorporating as soon as Oct. 1.

Ste. Marie and other opponents have generally argued that incorporation could lead to higher taxes for Wildomar residents. Critics of the effort distrust a financial analysis completed earlier this year, performed for a leading pro-cityhood group, that projected Wildomar to be able to support a city government and city services. They point to a separate 2006 report that found a less favorable financial climate.

Sheryl Ade, a leader of WIN, called Ste. Marie's lawsuit frivolous.

"It doesn't surprise me," she added. "This guy seems to be making a living on that kind of thing."

- Staff writer Brian Eckhouse contributed to this article. Contact staff writer Chris Bagley at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2615, or cbagley@californian.com.