Board of Supervisors allocates $10 million in funding for Strategic Plan and climate action priorities

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors today approved $10 million in funding for projects that aligned with the county’s five-year 2021-2026 Strategic Plan and that promoted climate action and resiliency efforts.

Each of the Strategic Plan projects that were funded using the $5 million set aside from the 2021 budget hearings fell under one of five strategic pillars. The five pillars are Healthy and Safe Communities, Organizational Excellence, Racial Equity and Social Justice, Climate Action and Resiliency, and Resilient Infrastructure.

As part of the vote Tuesday, the board also approved $5 million for a variety of local climate resiliency projects ranging from a pilot residential rainwater catchment rebate and training program, to drought resiliency planning and acquisition of land for the creation of more bike paths.

“This is an opportunity to put our money where our mouths are – to the future we leave our kids – climate resilience,” said Supervisor James Gore, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “Each of these projects moves us forward in responding to the realities of our changing climate and just being better stewards of our planet.”

The 21 approved Strategic Plan projects include: 

• $800,800 for the development of a three-year mobile program for Human and Child Support Services that would allow on-site satellite services in each of the three priority and visit special events to reach new clients.
• $500,000 to conduct a greenhouse gas inventory for all county government operations and to develop a study of carbon sequestration potential. Carbon sequestration plays a critical role in achieving carbon net-neutrality goals.
• $450,000 toward replacing the Probation Department’s aging case management system. Updating the case management and behavioral response system would lead to improved probation supervision.
• $356,000 to replace two radio channel repeaters to support county-wide emergency radio coverage. The repeaters have been in service for over 25 years and are in need of replacement.
• $265,000 for outreach and engagement to promote resources that help residents harden their homes against wildfire.
• $200,000 for the development of electric vehicle charging stations at county-owned and -leased properties. This would support the county’s goal of replacing its internal combustion engine fleet with electric motor vehicles. 

The Climate Resiliency Funding projects that were approved include: 

• $185,548 for a county-wide pilot rebate and training program to promote residential rainwater catchment.
• $275,000 for documentation of historic, current, and future flood risk.
• $121,400 to develop a construction, demolition and deconstruction model ordinance through Zero Waste Sonoma to support waste diversion and recycling tracking.
• $50,000 to conduct a poll or community survey around a potential climate tax measure. 
• $300,000 to assess and evaluate historic and current droughts, establishing action plans for each supervisorial district to advocate for local, state and federal funding opportunities.
• $440,000 for securing landowner agreements for 20 trail acquisitions to create Class 1 bike paths.
• $400,000 to study Flood-Managed Aquifer Recharge opportunities to recharge aquifers with excess flood waters.
• $378,720 to install a solar grid and backup battery at Doran Beach Regional Park to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• $500,000 for compost application on agricultural and community sites, increasing carbon sequestration.
• $380,250 to hire a registered professional forester to develop and manage county tree preservation and enhancement programs. 
• $870,000 to upgrade the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building with solar power and battery storage.
• $901,230 for further energy upgrades to the Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building to include lighting, windows, heat pumps, water heater and air conditioning.
• $250,000 to facilitate mapping an emergency food network system. 

The Climate Resiliency Fund includes $10 million that the board allocated in May 2021 using PG&E settlement funds resulting from the 2017 Sonoma Complex Fires. The board set aside approximately half of those funds on Tuesday for future projects, especially those that leverage outside grant funding. A second round of funding is expected later in 2022.

All told, the board allocated $4.96 million from the county’s General Fund toward Strategic Plan priorities, and another $5.05 million from the Climate Resilience Fund toward climate action. 

The Strategic Plan provides the context to inform policies and projects in the upcoming years and guides how the county can align short- and long-term objectives with operations and funding decisions. 

At the June 2021 budget hearings, the board set aside $5 million for the first year of Strategic Plan projects. County staff assessed all 27 projects to recommend priority projects based on metrics such as consideration of climate, equity, timeline and other factors. 

For more detailed information about the Sonoma County Five-Year Strategic plan visit socostrategicplan.org.