To: Board of Supervisors
From: County Administrative Office
Agenda Section: Departmental
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:title
Recommendations Regarding a Measure Z Spending Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-28 through 2029-30end
RECOMMENDATION(S):Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Review the attached recommendations from the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures regarding a Measure Z Spending Plan for fiscal years 2027-28 through 2029-2030; and
2. Provide direction on the Measure Z Spending Plan for fiscal years 2027-28 through 2029-30; and
3. Provide other direction, as needed.
Body
STRATEGIC PLAN:
The recommended actions support the following areas of the Board of Supervisors’ Strategic Plan:
Area of Focus: Safe & Healthy Communities
Strategic Plan Category: 1001 -Support and sustain partnerships between public safety and partner agencies to enhance public safety in our communities
DISCUSSION:
The Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures has provided its recommendations regarding a new three-year spending plan for Measure Z revenues, which would begin in fiscal year 2027-28 and last through fiscal year 2029-30.
Spending Plan
On Dec. 5, 2023 the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors approved a spending plan that set Measure Z allocations for fiscal years 2024-25 through 2026-27. The spending plan included guaranteed amounts for County of Humboldt departments and partner agencies, with a clear formula on how small County of Humboldt departments’ costs would be fully covered by Measure Z, and remaining budgeted funding going to the Humboldt County Fire Chief’s Association. Below is the current Measure Z Spending Plan for fiscal years 2024-25 through 2026-27:
The current Measure Z Spending Plan will be complete at the end of this fiscal year. In order to provide sufficient time to plan for next fiscal year and beyond, and pursuant to the direction provided by the Board on Jan. 23, 2024, the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures (Committee) has developed a recommended Measure Z Spending Plan for fiscal years 2027-28 through 2029-30, which is currently before your Board.
The intent of developing the new Measure Z Spending Plan for fiscal years 2027-28 through 2029-30 was to have the Committee re-evaluate current investments, knowing that growth in Measure Z revenues is unlikely for the planning period, and determine whether there should be changes to provide additional security for public safety projects in Humboldt County. In addition, with the passage of Measure O, the Humboldt County Department of Public Works is funding the Brush Cutting Project with that funding source, rather than Measure Z. This project was funded with an ongoing $400,000 allocation of Measure Z revenues. The Committee evaluated how this ongoing allocation should be repurposed.
The Committee developed an ad hoc committee, which created three funding options and presented them to the full Committee on Jan. 15, 2026. The Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures recommends Option 1, detailed below. This proposed plan uses the savings from the Brush Cutting Project to increase allocations for County of Humboldt departments with Measure Z projects including more than four employees; while also providing additional guaranteed funding for community partners whose Measure Z applications rank highly each year and consistently receive Board support.
Following are summaries of each option, which are also included in Attachment 1:
This option would:
• Provide enough funding that would put large County of Humboldt departments at 5% below their projected need for the first year of the plan and keep those allocations flat for the following two years. This would increase each department’s allocation, except for the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, which has deallocated a position since the last three-year spending plan. This balances the need to address increased costs of services, with maintaining sustainability of this funding source.
• Provide an additional ongoing allocation of $200,000 to the Fortuna Police Department to fund its School Resource Officer. This recommendation provides stable funding for the School Resource Officer position, which has been funded eight of the last nine years.
• Require that the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association receive any remaining funding, up to $1.5 million, before any funding is made available for applications. This recommendation further prioritizes Humboldt’s 40-plus fire departments, which has received $1.9 million per year on average from Measure Z revenues.
• The remaining allocations would remain unchanged, meaning the Humbold County Public Defender’s Office and the Humboldt County Human Resources Department would continue to receive full funding, Kimaw Medical Center would receive $325,000 per year and Southern Trinity Area Rescue would receive $137,500 annually.
• The amount of funding for applications would be significantly less than prior years, and would come almost exclusively from expenditure savings and revenue over projections. Most years would likely include less than $1 million in application funding. This is offset by providing guaranteed funding to the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association and the Fortuna Police Department, which are funded practically every year.
Option 2 would:
• Provide an additional ongoing allocation of $200,000 to the Fortuna Police Department to fund their School Resource Officer, as described above.
• Provide an additional ongoing allocation of $200,000 to the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association, for a total of roughly $1.2 million guaranteed each year.
• Continue to hold $500,000 per year for applications, to be supplemented by expenditure savings and excess revenue.
• Keep county allocations the same as the prior spending plan, except that the allocation to the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services would be decreased by $37,500.
Option 3 would keep the allocation methodology the same as the current Measure Z Spending Plan, which will:
• Require County of Humboldt departments to absorb cost increases anticipated at more than $700,000, or roughly 6.67%.
• Increase the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association’s allocation to more than $1.3M each year.
• Provide $500,000 towards applications each year, to be supplemented by expenditure savings and excess revenue.
County, Community Partner Allocations
The Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures has continued to discuss the overall split in funding between County of Humboldt departments and community partners. In 2023, the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures took a policy stance that essentially stated in order to retain the voters’ intent that Measure Z provide the broad range of services included in the measure, the County of Humboldt should aim to split funding at roughly 70% for County of Humboldt departments and 30% for community partners, after factoring in the spending plan, or guaranteed funding, and application process.
Use of the spending plan has helped the County of Humboldt move closer to the goals stated by the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures. In fiscal year 2023-24, County of Humboldt departments received more than 90.5% of Measure Z funding, and in fiscal year 2025-2026 that number was reduced to 77.9%, which is an achievement the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures has commended the Board for.
If the Board adopts the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures’ recommendations, the new spending plan would provide 82% of funding to county departments as a base, which would be reduced to 78% if there is enough funding in future years to provide the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association’s with $1.5 million. It will be possible to move even closer to that 70/30 split goal if additional revenues are collected.
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
Measure Z (1103-889)
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
|
Expenditures (Various MZ Budget Units) |
FY 27-28 Projected* |
FY 28-29 Projected* |
FY 29-30 Projected* |
|
Three-Year Spending Plan |
$13,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
|
Total Expenditures |
$13,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
|
Funding Sources (1103-889) |
FY 27-28 Projected* |
FY 28-29 Projected* |
FY 29-30 Projected* |
|
Base Revenue |
$12,500,000 |
$12,500,000 |
$12,500,000 |
|
Additional Revenue |
$500,000 |
$500,000 |
$500,000 |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$13,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
$13,000,000 |
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
The projected revenues of $13.0 million annually for fiscal years 2027-28 through 2029-30 are conservative and used in the scenarios described above only as a way to ensure consistent projections against targeted percentages.
If Option 1 is adopted, as recommended by the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures, County of Humboldt departments with five or more employees would receive an allocation that is 5% less than their projected need, calculated by projected salary and benefit increases, as well as estimated increases to fixed costs like internal service fund and cost allocation plan charges. The prior spending plan also allocated funding to these departments that was less than their projected need, and County of Humboldt departments made up the difference by holding vacancies for portions of the year, or reducing costs for services and supplies, or some combination thereof. Allocations to County of Humboldt departments with four employees or fewer would meet their salary and benefit need, plus a $5,000 allocation per employee per year for services and supplies and other charges, each year as established through the budget process. This would provide $10.6 million to County of Humboldt departments each year.
Option 1 would provide a total base allocation of $2.3 million to partner agencies for each year of the spending plan. The amount of base funding for applications would be reduced and would be more heavily reliant on prior year savings, and revenue above projections.
STAFFING IMPACT:
|
Department |
Total FTE in FY 26-27 |
|
Public Defender |
2 |
|
DHHS |
7 |
|
District Attorney |
12 |
|
Probation |
5 |
|
Sheriff |
43 |
|
Human Resources |
1 |
In fiscal year 2026-27 there were 70 positions allocated to County of Humboldt departments. The recommendations provided above would provide stable funding for County of Humboldt departments and several outside agencies for the next three years and provide a clear role for the Committee’s work during that time. It would also allow staff to provide more accurate revenue estimates for this vital public safety measure.
Depending on the approach the Board chooses, there could be a reduction in personnel allocations, as County of Humboldt departments may not receive enough funding to fully cover staffing allocations, which may result in staffing deallocations, or moving those positions to other funding sources.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Agencies applying for Measure Z funding.
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Board could choose Option 2 or Option 3 of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures’ recommendations, choose a different allocation methodology, or direct staff to return with different recommendations regarding the expenditure of Measure Z funding.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures’ Recommendations Regarding a Measure Z Spending Plan for Fiscal Years 2027-28 through 2029-30
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Meeting of: 12/5/23; 4/22/25; 4/21/26
File No.: 23-1456; 25-373; 26-268