While the Sacramento City Council considers proposed budget cuts, a commission is drafting the first strategic investment plan for Measure L. The plan will set guidelines for spending an estimated $47 million on youth services over the next five years, but it’s unclear whether the money can fund programs threatened by budget cuts.
The Sacramento Children’s Fund Planning and Oversight Commission aims to send the plan to the council for approval in July, so it won’t be finished before the budget adoption deadline.
The city projects it will set aside about $9.3 million a year, which is equivalent to 40% of the estimated annual cannabis business operations tax revenue. Measure L requires the city to maintain current spending on youth services, which the City Auditor’s Office determined to be $22.9 million a year. But it doesn’t protect specific programs, said Monica Ruelas Mares, who chairs the commission.
Ruelas Mares added the commission is waiting on clarification on what recommendations members can make regarding using Measure L to cover possible cuts to youth services.
“There’s some legal issues with that and we’re still trying to determine whether or not Measure L money could go towards programs that the city cuts specifically in this year,” Ruelas Mares said on Wednesday.
Recently proposed cuts to youth programs include ending the city’s $1 million annual contribution to RydeFreeRT, a program allowing youth from preschoolers to high school seniors to ride Sacramento Regional Transit District buses and light rail for free. The program costs $10 million annually, SacRT spokesperson Jessica Gonzalez said in an email on Wednesday.
Since it began in 2019, SacRT has covered $8.4 million of the annual cost while Sacramento County has contributed $350,000 and Citrus Heights, Rancho Cordova, Folsom and Elk Grove have collectively paid $250,000. The transit agency plans to find a long-term funding source for the program and distribute new RydeFreeRT cards valid through June 2025 later this month, Gonzalez added.
Other budget proposals affecting children include increasing rental fees for youth sports fields, decreasing funding for the Museum of Science and Curiosity and reducing stipends for workforce development programs. The city is also proposing eliminating vacant positions or cutting back the hours of staff who work on summer camps and other youth recreational programs, overall reducing the number of those full-time employees by 22 people.
Jackie Beecham, director of Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment, told the council on Tuesday that the department is looking into creating a single scholarship fund to help offset the cost of proposed higher fees for youth programs. The department currently offers three youth scholarship programs, but only one has formal funding separate from the operating budget.
Measure L might be able to go toward such a scholarship fund, Ruelas Mares said, but it would be up to the full commission to decide whether to incorporate it in the strategic plan proposal.
“We are not a grant review body, so we’re not making determinations on which community organizations or specific programs are being granted,” Ruelas Mares said. “That process comes at a later time. But what we are in charge of is really looking at the landscape of youth funding in the city — as well as in tandem with the county and other funding sources — and identifying the gaps, the emerging needs and ways that Measure L money can fill gaps or enhance programs that are already doing really well.”
The council has the final say on the strategic plan and could change the commission’s proposal. Once the strategic plan is adopted, the city, county, schools and community organizations can apply for funding. All agencies and organizations would be evaluated for whether their program proposals meet the goals and needs outlined in the plan, Ruelas Mares said.
The commission plans to release a draft of the strategic plan for public comment in early June.
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