This report looks at the County's financial position relative to what we budgeted. So far, Property taxes and Transient occupancy taxes (from hotels and short term rentals) are up, thanks to increased valuations of newly purchased homes and the increase in hotel taxes that voters approved last June. Meanwhile, Sales taxes and Cannabis taxes are down as consumer spending slows due to inflation and highly competitive cannabis industry has forced cultivators to shut down.
The net improvement in revenue is $2,857,488. Much of this, $2,000,000, will be appropriated for storm emergency activities. To put it in perspective, Public Works responded to 816 dispatch calls during the January storms, closed and reopened 156 roads, and entered into 29 emergency road repair contracts.
Additionally, the Board of Supervisors will consider using some of the increased revenues from Transient occupancy taxes, much of which is being generated by the increased rate on AirBnBs and other short term rentals, to improve code compliance. This may include hiring a full time code compliance officer to monitor short term rentals, as well as spending more money on parks and other neighborhood improvements in those neighborhoods most impacted by short term rentals.
The County is looking at ways to improve our alert and warning communications during disasters. Options being considered include structural, technical and staffing solutions. A communications platform that puts the County and other emergency services on the same page is being prioritized. Staff is writing an Emergency Communications Guidebook. Finally, we are updating the different zones in Zonehaven, which we use for evacuation notices, particularly for flood prone areas to clarify who is at risk and who is not.
The Board of Supervisors has established a framework for addressing homelessness and a six-month review cycle to check on how we are doing. The framework outlines a range of strategies to reduce unsheltered homelessness by 50% and overall homelessness by 25% between 2019 and 2024.
The County's two core goals to improve homelessness are:
1) Increasing the effectiveness of all programs in helping people secure housing. This includes a new process we are launching to assign the scarce housing units available. The process will be more realistic and transparent to people so that they know when they can expect to receive housing and when they cannot. It will not just put people on a "list to nowhere." It also includes working with people experiencing homelessness to create a housing plan to help them help themselves. This plan will outline specific goals, next steps and personal resources that will help people get back into housing on their own.
2) Expand capacity within the homelessness response system. Today we need more capacity both in terms of overnight shelter beds, as well as long term housing. We've had significant recent success securing funds for long term housing, including over $19 million secured from the State for 62 Project Homekey permanent supportive housing units, as well as over $25 million awarded to Housing Matters' Harvey West Studios project that will build 120 permanent supportive housing units (see more below).
For extremely low-income households, emergency rental assistance is often the best way to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place. Over the last year, $13.6 million of emergency rental assistance was distributed to 1,096 families (for an average of $11,594 each). Additionally, Emergency Housing Vouchers helped 295 formerly homeless households to secure permanent homes.
This year's Point in Time (PIT) Count of Persons Experiencing Homelessness took place on February 23rd. The data from this count will tell us whether the number of people experiencing homelessness increased or decreased from the 2,229 people in 2022.
