Sonoma County Government: Board Of Supervisors Allocates $10 Million In Funding For Strategic Plan And Climate Action Priorities

Healdsburg CA

02 February, 2022

2:43 PM

Description

Press release from the Sonoma County Government: February 2, 2022 Santa Rosa, CA  –  February 2, 2022  –  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: The Climate Resiliency Funding projects that were approved include: 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. This press release was produced by the Sonoma County Government. The views expressed here are the author's own.