Infographic: Piechart of Santa Cruz Couty's proposed budget for 2023-2024
Item 7. Public hearing to consider, accept and file the County's Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 Proposed Budget and 2023-25 Operational Plan ...
The County of Santa Cruz has released its 2023-24 Proposed Budget and interactive website, giving residents unprecedented digital access to County spending and revenue forecasts, line-item details and insight into how the budget connects to ongoing strategic priorities.
The $1.1 billion Proposed Budget includes a $731.2 million General Fund and reflects slowing revenue growth while preserving support for community priorities despite significant uncertainties in local, state, and national financial forecasts.
Despite challenges including financing the most recent storm disasters, the Proposed Budget supports several community investments, including the continued build-out of a new South County Government Center, the development of a new Children’s Crisis Stabilization Center in Live Oak, a Unified Permit Center, a new countywide emergency alert system, planning for the continuation of the Rail Trail, fully reopening the Simpkins Family Swim Center, design of a new Freedom Campus Health Care Center, completion of the Live Oak Library Annex and Aptos Library, a Master Plan on Aging, increases in inmate medical and behavioral health care, and completion of a new DNA laboratory to reduce case processing times.
However, the County faces significant headwinds when it comes to providing future services, with a projected budget deficit exceeding $10 million by 2028. County revenues are projected to grow just 0.4 percent in 2023-24, reflecting a slowing economy, changes in retail shopping patterns, and reduced cannabis business taxes.
The slowdown comes in addition to longstanding structural issues that limit the County's ability to provide services to the community. Despite a much higher share of residents living in unincorporated areas than other counties, the County collects just 13 cents out of every property tax dollar, far less than peer counties. While the County collects approximately $500 annually in per capita property taxes, some counties collect eight times that amount, or nearly $4,000.
Furthermore, the County collects just 5.4 percent in sales taxes from online sales, compared to nearly 20 percent of sales taxes from local retailers. Climate change, in the form of ongoing increased costs for disaster response and unfunded mandates such as the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, continues to weigh on County finances.
The Board of Supervisors has scheduled a series of budget hearings to review the 2023-24 Proposed Budget. Hearings are scheduled for May 9th, May 30th, and May 31st at 9 a.m. and June 13th at 1:30 p.m. All meetings will be held in Board Chambers, 701 Ocean St., 5th Floor, Santa Cruz.
Under State Assembly Bill 481, the Sheriff's Office is required to submit an annual military equipment report to the Board to provide transparency, oversight, and an opportunity for meaningful public input on decisions regarding whether and how specified equipment is funded, acquired, and used.
The 2022 AB 481 Military Acquisition & Use report provides significant detail on the matter. For example, on 1/10/2022, a drone or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was deployed on Highway 1 for a water rescue, with the outcome that the subject was located. The report also summarizes any complaints received (none were). Complaints can be submitted via the form found on this page.
The Sheriff’s Office will host a community meeting on May 23, 2023, on the Sheriff's 2022 Annual Report - Military Equipment Acquisition and Use. The meeting will occur from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm at the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters (Community Room) at 5200 Soquel Avenue, Santa Cruz, CA 95062. The Sheriff's office encourages residents to attend and provide input.
As you know, the changes made by the FAA to SFO's arriving SERFR flight path in 2015 had a tremendous impact on Santa Cruz Mountain residents.
To this day, jet noise continues to negatively impact the lives of County residents living near or under the flight path. Now, our federal legislators have a chance to improve the FAA's policy, and further support impacted communities. Congress will vote on a 5-year funding package for the FAA this year, including changes for the Administration to implement, including noise, safety, infrastructure, and innovation-specific policy. This is an excellent opportunity to demand that the federal agency be more sensitive to the impact its Flight change decision continues to have on surrounding communities.
Therefore, I'm urging our congressional leaders and regional partners to support Congresswoman Eshoo's Noise Metric and Community Impact-related policy recommendations and ensure they are included in this year's FAA Reauthorization Act.
One of the significant challenges that counties face in addressing homelessness is fractured and inconsistent funding. Santa Cruz County manages over 40 state and federal government grants, using these funds to cover costs related to; outreach, shelter, and services. Each one of these grants has a different length, has to be applied for and reported on, and could change in amount or vanish entirely from one year to the next. It's ridiculous.
Now, all of the counties in the state are organizing through the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) to demand a comprehensive plan and consistent, equitable funding from one year to the next. This is called the AT HOME Plan and a favorable vote from the Board of Supervisors would make our support official.
