The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors will receive its first report back from its Measure X community advisory board on Tuesday, concerning recommendations on how the county should spend its expected windfall of sales tax money – at least $81 million annually over 20 years.
The advisory board is asking supervisors to approve $20,000 to contract for assistance in compiling the information and writing a formal needs assessment report. The matter would return to the board of supervisors on Nov. 2.
Measure X – a half-cent sales tax – was approved by county voters in 2020. The money started accruing in April, the same month the county’s advisory board began meeting.
The board of supervisors decided to give 95 percent of the decision-making concerning where the money goes to the 27-person advisory committee, chosen by the board.
The funds are intended to keep “Contra Costa’s regional hospital open and staffed, fund community health centers, provide timely fire and emergency response, support critical safety-net services, invest in early childhood services, protect vulnerable populations, and for other essential services,” according to the measure’s wording.
A draft of the advisory board’s report outlines five recommended funding priorities for Measure X funds in fiscal 2021-22.
The first goal is “mental well-being,” It details grants for childhood mental health services, substance abuse treatment, greater mental health services for the Asian American Pacific Islander community, the LGBTQ community, and more medical response to mental health crisis.
The second goal is titled “Equity in Action,” and prioritizes equity and removing barriers that cause poverty. Its strategies include a county office of racial equity and social justice, more representation and case management for immigrant residents, more community and school-based arts programs, and innovation fund to facilitate service needs, and asylum support for LGBTQ individuals and immigrants.
Goal three is “Healthy Communities,” included ranked strategies of expanding comprehensive health care for the uninsured, creating a local housing trust fund to fund things like tenant legal services and subsidized child care, and community-based food distribution and employment training.
The fourth goal is “Intergenerational Thriving,” including strategies for more service for children with disabilities, more community-based youth centers, more community-based aging centers, a guaranteed income pilot program, a master plan on aging, community-based restorative justice and discretionary funds for child protective services and foster youth.
The fifth goal is “Welcoming & Safe Community,” with the goal of creating a community where all residents feel safe and can get necessary emergency help, funding East County fire services, re-opening closed fire stations creating public defender front-end advocacy teams, emphasizing wildfire mitigation, providing community-based reentry support services, more money for abuse prevention and support, rental assistance for immigrants, creating a Reimagine Public Safety initiative, better seasonal fire staffing, and a multi-cultural wellness center for Nepali/AAPI residents.
The report also includes alternative considerations and breaks down the activities of the group, including the operating principles under which it has worked, and how it assessed county needs.
21 comments
So how do the proposed goals meet what the funds are intended for? IE, which of those goals will “provide timely fire and emergency response”?
Or is this a switch and bait Measure?
Measure X – a half-cent sales tax – was approved by county voters in 2020.
We approved Measure X to be used as a slush fund? I don’t remember.
I remember how, before the election, the Board of Supervisors had meetings intended to come up with a few projects they could use to sell the tax. They didn’t hide the fact that the tax was intended to raise a big pot of money that they had no specific plan for. I was amazed that the voters went for it by a wide margin. It proved to be so successful that we can expect more of these tax proposals in upcoming elections.
taxation without representation
first point for the money
not fire and police for safety as billed
but
services for the Asian American Pacific Islander community, the LGBTQ community, and more medical response to mental health crisis.
dem projects for votes
with all of our money
bias and racism at its finest
dems lying again and the voters love it
keep on with the hypocrisy and corruption and lying
the dem voters love it
+1
also
this was a road tax boondoggle as well
all i have seen is huge union projects to fix what was allready fine
the toll lanes and onramp projects that do nothing
as the dems took away a traffic lane for more money
but why we or rather dems voted for more taxes
so why do we need a paid lane to further promote bad inefficient traffic
but no worries the binbidenpurple genie is going to tax the middle class to death and take away the single family home
in favor of packed apartments for illegals
here come the projects of highrise housing
just like china …hmmmmm
Who votes for this crap?
Since I didn’t vote for this tax I view it just more ways to spend and spend and spend, ad infinitum on talk and reports with nothing really getting done.
Safety is not mentioned until number five on their list. Sadly, it mentions nothing about curbing increased violence and theft. They just want to reimagine stuff and ignore the real problems. Results are unimportant.
Why waste any more time on this.
Just add up the number of CC residents who aren’t Caucasian, heterosexual, or employed. Divide the annual tax generated by that number, and send them a check. Boom, done, equity accomplished, take a victory lap.
Says to open fire stations that have been closed. What is the justification to re-open them?
Return the money to all the taxpayers of Contra Costa County. This will promote Healthy Communities.
They will be soon setting up their hidden mail in ballot factories with all the new refugees and illegal immigrants working for pennies
Voting records are available and ready to be duplicated on request
We must get a handle on vote fraud before 2022 or we will be getting a lot more black communists on the boards and councils
Fraud is their game plan
I am just curious, if people show up to the hearings and are vocal against them, will they be labeled just as parents who show up to school boards are? Asking for a friend
So, in other words, all the reasons they gave to get it passed, public transportation improvements, fixing roads, blah, blah, blah, was just a lie? Remember, it was defeated the first time around when they weren’t specific about how it would be used, so they dredged it up and recycled it in November with all the County problems covered that everyone was complaining about. But, it turns out that was just PR to get it passed, then?
Does anyone actually pay attention or read? Or do you just like to yell into the void of the internet and hope someone validates your feelings?
” “yes” vote supported authorizing an additional sales tax of 0.5% for 20 years generating an estimated $81 million per year for essential services including the regional hospital, community health centers, emergency response, safety-net services, early childhood services and protection of vulnerable populations, thereby increasing the total sales tax rate in Contra Costa County from 8.25% to 8.75%.”
“ how the county should spend its expected windfall of sales tax money.”
So we just voted for a measure to provide the board a “windfall” of money without any plan on how it would be spent? I doubt that was how it was presented to the voters! As idiotic as the Contra Costa electorate is, I can’t even see them approving that! What was promised? That’s how it should be spent. We don’t need to pay a board $20K to dream up ways to spend money from taxes. Spend it on what you promised to spend it on. Not brain surgery here BOS. You just can’t make this s&@t up!
You see what this is? It’s another pork barrel tax increase to fund Democrat and progressive groups and to create jobs for all the psychology and sociology majors who cannot find work outside the government trough.
As always, it passed with flying colors. The people of Contra Costa have never met a new tax or bond measure they didn’t love.
The people of California are insane. We pay double and quadruple the home prices and property taxes of other states and wonder why people laugh at us and think we are idiots.
Well, I’m out in a couple of years. Maybe sooner. Idaho is looking really good right now.
The advisory board is asking supervisors to approve $20,000 to contract for assistance in compiling the information and writing a formal needs assessment report.
So, give us money so we can tell you want you want to hear.
No mention of roads and infrastructure.
Communism at its finest.
im reading that 3 out of the 5 are to help our illegal immigrant population…..wow….and i didnt read anything about help to our homeless vets, transitional housing for them, mental health help for them etc etc….I am all for helping out the 1,but lets not forget the many that earned the help instead of handing out monies to those that have not contributed yet feel entitled….they use to refer to this as the welfare state…its starting to turn into an entitlement state…
Not a peep about supporting commercial job creation or site development for science, medical, tech facilities, 4 year college fund to bid for UC/State campus in county, or homeless housing facilities/sheriff support to lower property crime and homeless camps.
Why is this county content with being full of low % of career/living wage jobs, and settles on bedroom communities and small financial services hubs tied to over priced real estate?
BFF Out!
More smoking mirrors. They will say they need more money to fund their pet projects and keep letting people not work and suck off the system.
We keep getting told how our resources are depleting here in the US-so why do we keep letting illegals and terrorists into the country to reap yhavoc.
Oh right-the socialist leftist green crowd need more votes to keep them in office so they can keep getting their cadillac benefits.
What a shame this country has become.
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