$15.5 million funneled to parks across Sonoma County from voter-approved Measure M

Voter-approved tax funding injected more than $15 million in upgrades to parks across Sonoma County in the past fiscal year, offering visitors new trails, expanded education programs and other amenities, according to a recent county report.

The boost comes from Measure M, a one-eighth cent sales tax approved by county voters in 2018 and meant to benefit the region’s beloved network of 300 county and city parks.

The $15.5 million it generated in fiscal year 2021-22 was an increase over the $13.3 million generated in fiscal year 2020-21, the second year of collections, according to the new county report.

Divided between Sonoma County Regional Parks and the county’s nine cities, the funds are directed to park and trail maintenance and expansion, education programs, habitat protection and opening new parkland.

Nearly $5.2 million was dispersed among the nine cities based on population, with the remaining $10.3 million going to Regional Parks.

Voters passed Measure M five years ago by an overwhelming margin, adding another conservation revenue stream in a county that also dedicates a separate quarter-cent tax to open space and farmland protection.

Measure M, as designed, is set to expire in 2028.

The revenue has been a boon for the county during the pandemic, when local parks saw use skyrocket as people flocked to the outdoors.

“What we learned through COVID is people don’t just love their parks, they need their parks,” said Melanie Parker, Regional Parks’ deputy director. “More people came out to the outdoors than they ever had before during the height of the pandemic.”

Altogether, the local network of parks offers 276 miles of trails, 200 campsites, 3,111 programs, 58 regional parks and 242 city parks, according to the county report.

New trails, programs for county sites

Measure M funds supported brush management work, including the creation of shaded fuel breaks in northern Sonoma County parks, the hiring of two bilingual community engagement program specialists to improve access for Spanish-speaking families and trail and infrastructure improvements at Helen Putnam Regional Park in Petaluma.

The county’s Regional Parks department entered past fiscal year with a beginning balance of nearly $5.2 million in Measure M funds and spent about $10.3 million. Its balance for future years totals about $5.2 million, according to the staff report.

The county department is exploring purchase of electric tools like e-bikes for park rangers with Measure M funds.

“We have internally put no more than 50% of dollars into staff to deliver projects and parks,” said Parker. “We are promising and putting the other half into capital projects.”

Last year the funds enabled the Redwood Trails Alliance, a local nonprofit and Measure M supporter, to complete almost 11 miles of new trails, maintain other trails and fix erosion on Taylor Mountain in Santa Rosa, said Debbie St. Cyr, executive director of the trails group.

“It’s been a great benefit for the community,” said St. Cyr.

Leveraging outside dollars

Measure M funds make up 20% of Regional Parks total revenue, said Parker. The income allows the department to compete for matching state and private grants.

“One of the things I love about Regional Parks is we are diverse and we are always bringing in multiple and diverse funding sources,” Parker said.

An unexpected benefit of Measure M’s passage is the collaboration it fostered between the county and cities, said Parker.

“We all really share strategies and approaches and ideas and share our innovations across all the park systems,” Parker said.

St. Cyr recalled watching “the earth heal” as Redwood Trail Alliance tackled points of serious erosion on steeply graded parts of Taylor Mountain. The reward is also in the reaction from the park visitors and volunteers, said St. Cyr.

“The biggest thing really is the community,” St. Cyr said. “How happy it makes people to see their favorite trails be improved, to see new trails that can accommodate the increase in users which has been hugely growing over the years.”

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.