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Last Day Budget Hearing |
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At 1:30pm tomorrow/Tuesday the Board of Supervisors will complete our review of the budget for the coming '24-'25 fiscal year, which begins on July 1st. The proposed budget is in many ways "status quo" as we do not yet know exactly how the State's budget deficit and resulting cuts will impact our health and human services departments. (The State Legislature must pass a balanced budget by midnight on June 15th). Furthermore, the new 1/2 cent county sales tax that voters approved in March, Measure K, is in suspense due to pending litigation. This means that the $7.5 million that the tax would have generated this coming year cannot be budgeted. Some of the hot topics during this year's budget hearings have been eviction defense and funding for county roads. Several non-profit groups have asked the County to increase funding for eviction defense services in light of one-time state and federal funding that is going away. Further discussion on that topic is available here. I proposed that we budget an additional $10M for roads at our at the May 22nd hearing, but did not get the two other votes needed to move forward. I receive requests from constituents for road repairs and safety improvements all the time. I'm concerned that very little to none of our property tax dollars or vehicle license fees are regularly allocated to roads and that this year's proposed budget would reduce road maintenance by $1.5 million or 16% compared to last year. This is due largely to declining gas tax revenues that typically support the work. We also still have 88 storm-related projects (54 in 2023 and 34 in 2024) for which there is no identified source of funds. The County Administrative Office and Community Development and Infrastructure departments responded by adding this memo to our budget hearing agenda for tomorrow. It outlines the many efforts and expenditures on roads that the County has made over the last seven years. While these investments are large, the need is larger. I will continue to advocate for increased investment in roadways, which constitute our largest shared public space. You can view the full agenda for the Last Day Budget Hearing here: https://santacruzcountyca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2062 |
Highlights on Tomorrow's Board of Supervisors Agenda |
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The Board of Supervisors will have a regular morning meeting tomorrow in addition to Budget Hearing at 1:30pm. Most of the items on our regular agenda are administrative adjustments to fees for various County Service Areas. You can view the full agenda here. There are several items of note on the consent agenda... |
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Item 50. Approve agreement with NaphCare, Inc. in the amount of $10,952,650 for medical, mental health, dental and pharmaceutical services at the County’s correctional facilities in Fiscal Year 2024-25 …The County is bringing on a new health care provider for incarcerated persons. The Sheriff’s Office's current contract with WellPath is set set to expire on June 30, 2024. The Sheriff's Office is recommending award of the new contract to NaphCare, Inc. The contract is for a one-year term, with an option for three one-year extensions. Since 2012, the County has contracted with an outside provider for medical services at the County’s correctional facilities. The contractor is responsible for the provision of health care services to incarcerated persons from the time they are committed to the custody of the jail until release from custody. |
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Item 55. Accept and file update on the County’s Behavioral Health Bridge Housing Program, approve agreement with LifeArk in the amount of $117,216 …The County is moving forward with the creation of 34 units of temporary housing at 2202 Soquel Avenue, adjacent to the County’s existing Psychiatric Health Facility. The idea is that instead of discharging people to the street, we will house them for up to six months and help them find long term housing. The County received a state grant to build this housing and, with this item, will begin drawing down $2,542,782 to construct it. LifeArk has been selected as the design and build partner. They use innovative, modular construction methods that you can see pictured above and in a video here. These housing units are expected to open by the end of 2024. |
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Item 59. Approve agreement with Ross Recreation Equipment, Inc. for the Floral County Playground Renovation Project in an amount not-to-exceed $221,636 …We're ordering the new playground for Floral Park on 38th! Thanks to the generous donations of many local residents, the organizing power of County Park Friends, and the application of Transient Occupancy Taxes generated from Pleasure Point vacation rentals, this park is receiving some much needed investment. Floral County Park, previously named 38th Avenue Park, is an 0.85-acre park in the Pleasure Point neighborhood offering family picnic areas with BBQs, a playground and a sand volleyball court. The current play structure at the park was built in 1990 and has not been renovated since. Many elements of the play structure are no longer functional, and its sand surface makes it inaccessible to many park visitors with mobility issues. The sand surface has also created drainage conflicts that the County has experienced more dramatically during the last storm events. That's why it's so great that we are ordering a new play structure that will be completed by the end of the year! To view and comment on the full Board of Supervisors agenda click here: https://santacruzcountyca.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=2043 |
Affordable Housing Community Opens on Capitola Road |
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Photo: Ribbon cutting at Bienestar, 1500 Capitola Rd Last week 57 units of affordable housing opened at 1500 Capitola Rd. The units, built by Mid-Pen Housing, are the last piece of the health campus to come online at this former County redevelopment site. Santa Cruz Community Health and Dientes opened the doors to their clinics adjacent to Capitola Rd last year. 40 of the units were reserved for people who live and work in Santa Cruz County and 16 of those were for people who live and work in Live Oak. The units received thousands of applications, demonstrating the need for more affordable housing of a similar kind. At the ribbon cutting ceremony, new resident Delaney, shared her story of how she finally received this housing unit after 8 years on the Section 8 waitlist. Delaney is a behavioral technician for PVUSD and the guardian of her 16 year old nephew. She's so grateful for a safe, clean place to live in walking distance to the beach, supermarket, and Coffeetopia. The County is pursuing other projects that combine housing and health care at its properties on Freedom Blvd. and Emeline. The builder, Mid-Pen Housing is working on several other projects in Watsonville, on 38th Ave, and in mid-county. |
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Photo: Metro Bus Reimagine METRO, the initiative to update bus routes so that they are easier to use and offer more frequent service, is showing initial success. Since rolling out in December of 2023 Phase 1 changes have had the following results: - Overall ridership up by 23% - UCSC ridership up by 27.1% - Cabrillo College ridership up by 26.8% - K-12 ridership up by an astounding 147.6% (also thanks to the Youth Cruz Free program) These improvements are a testament to the community’s support and METRO's commitment to providing efficient, innovative, and sustainable transit solutions. Additional service improvements will be rolling out with METRO's summer service starting June 20th. These include 15 minute service on the Route 1 and 30 minute service on the HWY 17 Express and the 90X between Watsonville and Santa Cruz. For more information, visit this link. |
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Photo: Deputy Insurance Commissioner Julia Juarez and Sanjay Khandelwal, President of the Loma Prieta Community Foundation. In case you missed it, the Loma Prieta Community Foundation hosted a meeting with Deputy Insurance Commissioner Julia Juarez to discuss the cancelation of homeowner's insurance and increasing insurance rates for high fire risk areas of Santa Cruz County. To watch the full video click here. Deputy Commissioner Juarez stressed two points: 1. The importance of home hardening and creating a Firewise community with your neighbors. This can get you a 15% savings on the Fair Plan if you have to use it. It will also put you first in line to get off of the Fair Plan. 2. You have a right to know your risk score. If your insurer won't tell you how they calculated your fire risk score, contact the Department of Insurance for help: https://www.insurance.ca.gov/0500-about-us/05-contact/ I continue to work with the State Department of Insurance and local fire agencies to reduce our County's overall risk level and to help residents retain home insurance. |
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Photo: Lighthouse Low-interest federal disaster loans are available to California businesses and residents affected by the severe winter storms, tornadoes, flooding, landslides and mudslides that occurred Jan. 31 – Feb. 9. The SBA Rural disaster declaration makes SBA assistance available to both rural and non-rural areas of Butte, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz counties Businesses of all sizes and private nonprofit organizations may borrow up to $2 million to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory and other business assets. SBA can also lend additional funds to businesses and homeowners to help with the cost of improvements to protect, prevent or minimize damage from occurring in the future. Disaster loans up to $500,000 are available to homeowners to repair or replace damaged or destroyed real estate. Homeowners and renters are eligible for up to $100,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property, including personal vehicles. The deadline to apply for property damage is July 16, 2024. The deadline to apply for economic injury is Feb. 18, 2025 For more information see the full press release here. |
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Photo: Wildfire Preparedness Thursday, June 6th - Wildfire Resilience Summit from 2 - 6 PM at the Santa Cruz County Veterans Memorial Building, 846 Front St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. The FireSafe Council of Santa Cruz County is putting on the Inaugural Santa Cruz County Wildfire Resilience Summit. This event is free to the public and pre-registration is appreciated at https://www.firesafesantacruz.org/wildfire-resilience-summit" The purpose of the Summit is to inform and inspire the citizens and presenting organizations of shovel in the ground and shovel ready wildfire resilience projects. There will be several presentations and a couple of panels as well. Pre-registration is appreciated. |
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