Marin County finds another $10.6M for one-time projects

Marin County supervisors have provisionally approved spending $10.6 million in extra revenue from fiscal year 2024-25, which ended in June.

The county has had “unassigned revenue” at the end of its budget year for many years, often because of unfilled staff positions and the arcane workings of the state’s Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund.

In December, Josh Swedberg, the county’s budget director, estimated there would be $10.4 million in unassigned revenue, and supervisors divvied up the money to more a dozen recipients. Now, however, Swedberg estimates the total amount of unassigned revenue in fiscal year 2024-25 will amount to $21 million, giving supervisors the opportunity to distribute another $10.6 million.

The spending plan was recommended by the county executive’s office during a three-day budget workshop last week. The Board of Supervisors will vote on it early this month.

The proposal includes spending $6 million of the money on county infrastructure upgrades and affordable housing.

“We are seeing millions of dollars in deferred maintenance across county facilities,” County Executive Derek Johnson told supervisors.

An organizational assessment of the Marin County Department of Public Works, completed by KPMG International Limited in November, highlighted “over $200 million in deferred maintenance needs that pose risks of costly equipment failures.”

The county paid KPMG $500,000 to evaluate the Community Development Agency, the Department of Public Works and the Marin Housing Authority. Another $1.5 million of the unassigned revenue would be spent to facilitate the implementation of KPMG recommendations for the Community Development Agency and the public works office.

“We need to integrate economic vitality into capital planning, permitting and departmental work plans,” said Supervisor Brian Colbert.

Sarah Jones, director of the Community Development Agency, announced recently that it is adjusting its approach to regulating food operators, moving from a singular focus on health hazards to a dual-track process that aims to balance safety enforcement with local economic vitality.

KPMG also recommended that both the Community Development Agency and the Department of Public Works implement technology modernization plans that embrace artificial intelligence.

The spending plan calls for allocating $2 million to respond to state and federal funding changes that threaten to increase the county’s homeless population. Lisa Warhuus, the director of the Department of Health and Human Services, estimated that the county could face an additional $6 million to $10 million per year in annual social service costs by fiscal year 2028 if current proposals are implemented.

The spending plan also allots $500,000 for congestion management planning work on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and $500,000 to support immigrants.

Supervisors provided $500,000 for immigrant support last year. The bulk of the money, $240,000, was for legal services. Another $185,000 was earmarked for support services, mainly rental assistance, and $75,000 went to the Marin Rapid Response Network, which operates a 24-hour hotline for people to report raids by federal immigration agents.

Jamillah Jordan, director of the county’s racial equity office, said the county has not spent all of the first $500,000 yet. Jordan said the support service program just got underway in January.

Nevertheless, Supervisor Dennis Rodoni said the $1 million over two years might be insufficient.

“We need to be prepared to step up with even more funding for that effort,” he said.

Rodoni and other supervisors voiced support for Johnson’s decision to forgo $300,000 to $400,000 in annual federal grant money linked to crime data reporting on criminal immigrants. The grant program reimburses cities and counties for the incarceration of immigrants who have at least one felony or two misdemeanor convictions and have been jailed for at least four consecutive days.

Swedberg said the spurned revenue will be backfilled with money from the county’s general fund.

During the budget workshop, Johnson also announced a plan to use a funding stream that is currently going toward paying down the county’s pension debt to upgrade county infrastructure. At the end of fiscal year 2026-27, the county expects to pay off $112 million in bonds that were issued in 2003 to address pension debt.

“Once we finish that payment, we’ll free up approximately $13 million in funding,” Swedberg said. The funds will be general fund money, which the county has absolute discretion in spending.

Johnson proposes to use $8 million annually for road maintenance. Another $5 million annually would be used to cover the cost of issuing up to $100 million in certificates of participation to pay for building a new county fire headquarters in San Geronimo, and other projects. The fire station is estimated to cost $83 million and is slated for completion by the end of 2028.

The other projects would include replacing the Hicks Valley Fire Station and creating a training center for firefighters at the College of Marin campus in Novato. Unlike general obligation bonds, certificates of participation do not require voter approval.

Supervisor Stephanie Moulton-Peters said that given announced cutbacks in state and federal funding for social services, she might favor deferring some of the proposed infrastructure spending.

Johnson, however, noted that in the case of roads in particular, a failure to implement upgrades could force the county to spend much larger amounts in the long run.