Among this year’s requests for Measure Z funds is an application for money to buy and renovate the former Mycroft Supportive Services property, which was overrun by squatters last year. | File photo by Ryan Burns.

Humboldt County’s number crunchers expect more than $11 million in Measure Z revenue to roll in during the upcoming fiscal year. Plus, there’s $336,000 being carried over from the current year. In the latest call for requests the county received 43 applications totaling just under $11 million.

At first blush that makes it sound like everyone will be happy, all requests granted. But as the county’s voter-approved half-percent sales tax approaches its third year, most of the anticipated revenues have already been spoken for.

More than $6.6 million is committed through ongoing funding to previously approved projects from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, local fire stations and other public safety agencies.

A quick reminder: While Measure Z is primarily associated with public safety — no coincidence since the political campaign leaned heavily on the needs of local law enforcement and fire prevention — the language of the measure includes the more vague category of “essential services.”

“If you believe you provide public safety or essential services for Humboldt County,” the county says, you’re welcome to apply for the money. The funding decisions ultimately fall to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors, but not before they get recommendations from the Measure Z Citizens’ Advisory Committee, which will meet Thursday at 2 p.m. in the supervisors’ chambers at the county courthouse to continue its deliberations on the latest round of requests.

“There’s very little money to give out for applications this year,” said Mike Newman, the fourth district representative on the Citizens’ Advisory Committee. “It’s pretty much spoken for with the funding from the prior two years.”

Not completely, though. There’s about $4.8 million left to dole out among this year’s applicants, though Newman said he and other committee members believe it should be more. They’re unhappy with recent funding decisions made by the Board of Supervisors. Specifically, last year about $75,000 was allocated between the cities of Trinidad and Blue Lake to split the salary of a Humboldt County Sheriff’s deputy.

But the Sheriff’s Office was unable to fill that vacancy. Nonetheless, the Board of Supervisors recently voted to give Trinidad its half of the money anyway, allowing the city to pay down some debt on its contract with the Sheriff’s Office. 

“That, in my mind, goes against what we recommended and what people voted on,” Newman said, “which was more funding for extra officers, for public safety. It was not for paying the regular bills.”

This year’s list of requests isn’t quite as entertaining as the first year’s batch, but it encompasses a wide range of services, from roadwork to senior care, firefighter training to a homeless campground and much more. A few highlights:

  • The Humboldt County Department of Public Works has the longest and most expensive wish list, including a $3 million request to improve county-maintained roads. This follows the November failure of another half-percent countywide sales tax, Measure U, which would have gone toward road maintenance and repairs.
  • The nonprofit Alcohol Drug Care Services, Inc. is asking for $575,000 to purchase and remodel the beleaguered property at 4565 Lewis Ave. in Eureka., home to the Mycroft Supportive Care facility before getting overrun by squatters last year.
  • The Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association is seeking almost $2.2 million (the second-largest single request this year) to purchase equipment for the county’s various rural and volunteer fire departments; continue covering dispatch fees; and address a mismatch between fire district boundaries and the actual locations where firefighters regularly respond to emergencies. 
  • The Hoopa Valley Tribal Council is requesting $357,801 to cover training, staffing and supplies for the K’ima:w Medical Center in Willow Creek.
  • The Humboldt County Aviation Division, which falls under the Department of Public Works, submitted four requests totaling almost $800,000. The money would go toward TSA-mandated security services, aircraft and firefighting services, repairing a small fire truck and annual aircraft rescue and firefighting training.
  • The Ferndale Police Department would like $54,000 to buy a “4x4 Heavy Duty, Club/Crew Cab Pickup Truck (Ford F-150 or similar)” outfitted with emergency equipment.
  • The Fortuna Police Department wants $30,969 to repair and replace old Tasers.
  • The nonprofit Mountain Community and Culture asks for $50,000 to conduct a “safe walkability/mobility study for the downtown Willow Creek area.”
  • AHHA (Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives, Inc.) is requesting $55,548 to set up “a safe, legal, transitional nomadic campground” for up to 30 homeless people.
  • The Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods submitted two separate requests, $100,000 apiece. One would pay for a new site offering programming near Alice Birney Elementary; the other would go toward the club’s Teen Court program and finance a part-time youth aide. A third request from the group, for $125,000, would finance all-staff trainings on issues such as human trafficking, inclusivity of LGBTQ youth, racial diversity and non-violent communication.

If you’d like to weigh in on these requests you can head to Thursday’s meeting of the Citizens’ Advisory Committee, or wait until the matter comes before the Board of Supervisors. For more info on Measure Z, check out the county’s webpage about it here. 

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