Marin County supervisors have started the new fiscal year with a $815 million budget.
The board made some last minor adjustments to the budget, including more allocations for the county’s nonprofit community partners program.
Josh Swedberg, the county’s budget director, said the budget reflects a moderately growing economy but staff remain cautious because of changes at the state level — a $56 million fiscal deficit over the next two years.
“We’re in kind of a wait-and-see mode,” Swedberg said.
The budget, which was unanimously approved June 26 and took effect Monday, maintains current service and investment levels. It has a 4% increase in spending across all funds from the previous budget cycle. The budget for the last fiscal year 2023-24 was $783.7 million.
The budget also contributes $13 million to retiree health care liabilities and $5 million to the Affordable Housing Trust. It also reflects a new policy requiring an annual $2 million contribution to community and western Marin infrastructure over the next three years.
The approved budget focuses on racially equitable communities; county infrastructure; affordable housing; county workforce recruitment and retention; disaster preparedness measures; and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
In its final approval of the budget, the Board of Supervisors increased funding for several nonprofit groups in the county.
Swedberg said the county received 89 applications for the community nonprofit community partners program, requesting $2.3 million in funding. Current funding supports $750,000 in grants. Staff allocated $650,000, and asked for direction on allocating another $100,000.
“In contrast to prior years, we do not have American Rescue Act funding, which supplemented this program,” Swedberg said.
Supervisor Katie Rice suggested combining the nonprofit grant program and the county’s community service grant program into one program with a one-time grant between $10,000 and $30,000.
“I don’t know that we’ve ever had this many applications for this program,” Rice said at a budget hearing last month. “I find this really difficult. Currently, these programs are really similar with slight differences and I think we could be more targeted and more impactful if we do a little adjusting.”
Rice asked for the Boys and Girls Club, the Halleck Creek Ranch, the North Bay Children’s Center and the Marin Brain Injury Network to receive more funding.
Supervisor Dennis Rodoni agreed that a revamp of the programs are needed, but also suggested increasing the amount that the county allocates for the grants.
“I continue to believe there is so much need in our nonprofit world, and in doing such great work for all of us here at the county, we need to reconsider the amounts, actually, that we’re putting into these programs and I, for one, recommend we start at a million dollars each year,” Rodoni said.
Supervisor Eric Lucan asked staff to increase funding by $5,000 for the Postpartum Support Center, North Marin Community Services and the North Bay Children’s Center.
Supervisor Mary Sackett asked the staff to remove funding for the voter outreach to Planned Parenthood of Northern California because it is an out-of-county agency.
“I’d rather, if we’re going to do that kind of measure, that we allocate the funding directly to our local organizations rather than an out of area that then taps on them to maybe do it for free,” Sackett said.
Sackett’s requests included $10,000 in funding for the Marin Villages and the Friends of China Camp, an additional $5,000 for the Postpartum Support Center and some funding for the St. Vincent De Paul Society free dining room.
Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters requested an additional $10,000 for Marin Villages and Resilient Neighborhoods. Rodoni’s request for nonprofits included increasing funding for the San Geronimo Valley Community Center and the Environmental Action Committee of West Marin.
“We need to ensure that the programs that we’re funding really reflect our values of equity, also reflect our values of community and the work we’re doing within our county and departments,” Sackett said.
At the June 26 meeting, Swedberg said these funding requests could be adjusted and the supervisors voted unanimously to approve them. The grants will be processed over the summer, and staff plan to work on merging the two programs before the next fiscal year begins.
While state contributions of one-time funding have decreased from previous years, the budget does include $21 million in one-time allocations that are funded by $43 million in projected savings from the current fiscal year. The one-time contributions includes $5.1 million in Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium capital improvements, $1.2 million to homelessness response and $1 million to match sea-level rise projects.
Swedberg said staff will return to the board with a Bay Area Housing Finance Authority expenditure plan in late summer or fall. The county also plans to continue to partner with local groups that address homelessness, and will monitor a potential state ballot measure to increase minimum wage to $18 an hour.
