San Rafael, CA – The Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $784 million budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year on Thursday, June 22. The approval came at the conclusion of three days of budget hearings, department presentations, and public feedback.
The budget is balanced and reflects a total spending increase of 9% over the previous fiscal year across all funds and a 6% increase to the General Fund. A year ago, the approved budget for 2022-23 was $716.6 million.
“Given the economic uncertainty we are seeing at the state and local level, we are glad to adopt a budget that maintains critical services and makes significant investments in our top community priorities such as services for seniors, affordable housing, sea level rise, wildfire preparedness, Civic Center modernization, and increasing our budget reserves,” said Board President Stephanie Moulton-Peters.
The final budget maintains services and makes a few high priority ongoing enhancements to address emerging needs. Approximately $50 million will go toward one-time investments, which include $30 million to address deferred maintenance and improvements at the Civic Center and Marin Center Campus, $2.5 million to address homeless encampments, and $2 million for enhanced road improvements, among others. One-time expenditures are funded through $24.4 million in current year savings, previously established reserves, special revenue funds, and federal COVID-relief funding. Detailed recommendations are included in the Proposed budget.
With the County’s mission at the forefront, the budget prioritizes:
- building a racially equitable community;
- investing in County infrastructure;
- preserving and increasing affordable housing choices and addressing homelessness;
- addressing County workforce recruitment and retention;
- reducing carbon emissions and adapting to climate change, and;
- enhancing disaster preparedness
An additional $3.2 million in new ongoing funding is earmarked for high-priority needs, including implementation of a Sheriff’s Office oversight board as per State Assembly Bill 1185. The budget also provides an increase to the living wage for eligible County workers to $18 per hour, adds job retention incentives for County employees, enhances funding to for aging and adult services, and increases the annual contribution to the capital improvement program by $1 million, among others.
“The second year of a two-year budget is consistent with our community priorities, with one-time funding that allows us to focus on much needed facility and infrastructure investments,” said Budget Director Josh Swedberg. “The $30 million investment in our Civic Center Campus will help modernize a historical landmark that will be used by our community for years to come.”
Learn more on the County’s budget overview webpage. Budget feedback may be emailed to the County budget staff.