Citizens' Advisory Committee reviews Humboldt County Measure Z evaluation process

EUREKA, Calif. — Humboldt County's Measure Z funding process was the topic of a Wednesday meeting with the Citizens' Advisory Committee. Count officials highlighted it's an unusual year with the county budget-wise, as it's set to face facing shortfalls in a lot of different areas."

Measure Z funding comes from a voter-approved half-cent sales tax for county services. The citizens' advisory committee reviewed possible changes to the evaluation process for how that funding is used.

The list of recommendations from the measure z ad hoc includes creating criteria for allowable costs, a reserve policy, and a mechanism for partial funding of applications.

"It will be very application specific and there are some that will not fit this criteria at all there. There is somewhere you clearly need this much money," said committee member Glenn Ziemer.

The committee also took a stance that they will not recommend any more ongoing county positions be funded with Measure Z. That motion passed 6-2 with Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal being one of the votes against it. Another recommendation looked at establishing a target of ongoing revenue allocated to the county department.

"Our target goal percentage is reviewed by the citizens' advisory committee every other year and I say that as every other year because I believe there needs to be a little more time to define the trend," said Committee Member Nicholas Kohl.

That motion passed 5-3 with a goal of being reached by the 2026-2027 fiscal year. Ultimately, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will have the final say of this matter at a later date.