Los impuestos de los parques apoyarán a los sistemas de comida locales
Khoản Thu về Thuế của Parks sẽ Hỗ Trợ Hệ Thống Thực Phẩm tại Địa Phương
San Rafael, CA – Community feedback is influencing the way Marin County Parks is directing tax revenue to address important local needs. Case in point: The first application period is opening this fall for nonprofits and other agencies to apply for almost $1.6 million from the Parks Measure A tax toward advancing community priorities that support all facets of Marin food systems, ranging from community gardens to carbon farming and more.
Grants from Parks' FARE program could be used for community gardens.Measure A, otherwise known as the Marin Parks, Open Space, and Sustainable Agriculture Transactions and Use Tax Ordinance of 2022, is a countywide quarter-cent sales tax. By law, a portion of Measure A funds must be used to support sustainable food system.
Examining needs through an equity lens, Parks worked with the Marin Food Policy Council, the Marin Community Foundation, the Agricultural Institute of Marin, and other members of the Marin Countywide Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) to identify new opportunities to assist those in need. Parks also worked with its own County of Marin teammates -- the Department of Agriculture, Weights & Measures, the UC Cooperative Extension (Marin UCCE), and the County’s Office of Equity, and listened to community input throughout the process. The County’s Race Equity Budget Tool was utilized as well.
The 2022 Measure A established the Food, Agriculture, and Resilient Ecosystems (FARE) grant program, which funds competitive matching grants throughout the county to support sustainable food systems, climate-beneficial agriculture management, and improvement of natural resource values on working lands. Parks expects an enthusiastic response to FARE; there were over 70 responses to a survey this summer about applying to the FARE program.
The Marin County Board of Supervisors approved the grant guidelines October 10, and the grant application for Year 1 officially opened (see summary slideshow on the Board’s agenda). Measure A funding for FARE is projected to total $7.2 million, or $800,000 annually, over the next nine years. Partners will evaluate the proposals this winter, and Parks will begin funding projects by summer 2024 after selection by the Board of Supervisors. The first round of grant awards will be distributed in allocations of $15,000 to $200,000.
The idea to have more countywide collaboration on food systems stemmed from conversations sparked during the Parks Measure A renewal effort in 2021 and 2022. The review of Measure A expenditures included encouragement to expand sustainable agriculture funding to a broader array of food-related projects in Marin – both agricultural and urban/suburban.
“After about a year of conversations about funding priorities, we received lists from our working groups that all pointed toward food system priorities,” said Sonya Hammons, the FARE program manager for Marin County Parks. “It will be incredibly satisfying to identify gaps in the funding landscape and steer this support to address evolving community needs.”