Half-cent sales tax increase on the ballot

Come November, Santa Cruz County will be looking to voters to help fund “critical unmet needs” by way of a half-cent sales tax increase in the unincorporated areas: for a total of 9 percent sales tax.  On August 7, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously directed that a ballot measure for the half cent sales tax increase be included on the November 6 General Election ballot.   
The half-cent sales tax increase in unincorporated areas is expected to raise $5.75 million per year and is proposed to last 12 years. As a “general tax”, the ballot measure will require 50 percent plus one vote approval by voters to be implemented.  All voters in Santa Cruz County will be eligible to vote on the measure, although it will only apply to sales transactions in the unincorporated areas.    
In a staff report to supervisors, County Administration Officer Carlos Palacios wrote, “Despite good fiscal stewardship, including increasing reserves and improving credit ratings, lowering pension liabilities and maintaining prudent staffing levels, the County still has critical unmet needs that require funding strategies to provide for the general welfare.”
One the “critical unmet needs” is intensive mental health crises intervention, primarily aimed at assisting county sheriffs with street-level psychiatric emergencies. Sheriff Jim Hart spoke to the Board of Supervisors at their August 7 meeting on the drastic need for more targeted and focused response to mental health emergencies. According to Hart, deputy sheriffs are called to deal with mental health emergencies an average of 10 times a day. 
Called the Focused Deterrence Initiative, the program is aimed at “a small subset of clients (who) remain resistant to services, including those who engage in criminal conduct (and) would match law enforcement with behavioral health treatment professionals through a team approach that brings focused, intensive resources to those in need and impact on public safety,” according to the CAO’s staff report. This “team approach” will require up to eight new professional staff in the Sheriff’s Office and Health Services Agency, costing an estimated $1 million annually. 
“There is a population of people in our county and four cities who refuse treatment and help. Their actions close businesses and scare people. This team will work with the courts, district attorney, public defender, the county health agencies and the corrections system to get these people off of the street and into an environment where they can get the help they need and stop the behavior that is harming our community,” Sheriff Hart wrote in an email to the Press Banner.
Sheriff Hart has spoken often about the “lack of infrastructure” to deal with the overlap of psychiatric emergencies and chronic homelessness. With only 14 mental health beds in the county, “the jail has become the biggest mental health facility in the county,” Hart said during his primary campaign. Hart has challenged a conventional view that Santa Cruz attracts homeless people with a wide range of services, and that the county jail is routinely impacted by the lack of alternatives and lack of services for people with mental illness and drug addictions.
Another “critical unmet need” is identified as a year-round, 24-hour shelter and service centers for the homeless in both North and South County.  The County currently funds an emergency winter shelter program shared between the Salvation Army facility in Santa Cruz and the Veterans of Foreign Wars facility in Live Oak, between November 15 and April 15, providing about 110 beds between them, at a cost to the County of $290,000. A permanent, year-round emergency homeless shelter is estimated to cost between $765,000 and 880,000 for 150 beds. The 2017 Homeless Census and Survey put the number of homeless in Santa Cruz County at 2,249 persons. 
The balance of the county’s “critical unmet needs” is funding for county parks, funding that can be leveraged to “unlock” other grants, loans and private sector funding for several “big ticket” capital improvement projects planned at several county parks. These include a $1.125 million commitment by the county to match $2.5 million in private-sector grants and donations to build “LEO’s Haven” at Chanticleer Park- a fully accessible “all-inclusive” playground especially designed for wheel-chair bound, disabled and special needs children.
Other capital projects to be funded include renovating aging pool infrastructure at the Simpkins Family Swim Center at an estimated cost of $1.35 million, and $530,000 for a linear parkway adjacent to Heart of Soquel Park that would connect Soquel Creek with Soquel Village and Soquel Elementary School. About $400,000 in funding is also designated for the development of the Felton Discovery Nature Park, an outdoor nature education park planned adjacent to the new library in Felton.
In a presentation at the Democratic Club of North County on August 7^, First District Supervisor John Leopold explained that Santa Cruz County is somewhat unique in that roughly half of the county’s population lives in unincorporated areas, and about half live in incorporated cities. The county is therefore called on to provide many services that are more typically met by municipal governments, and funding shortfalls results in community needs going unmet year after year.
Part of the justification for the tax hike is that the sales tax in the unincorporated areas of the county lag behind sales taxes collected in the four incorporated cities, by just about a half cent on the dollar. Capitola and Scotts Valley both have 9 percent sales tax, and the City of Santa Cruz and Watsonville have 9.25 percent sales taxes, while sales taxes in county areas are currently at 8.5 percent.