Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury Final Report 2023-2024

Additional Recommendations 6

These recommendations are not explicitly linked to specific findings.

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  health needs. officers impact the staffing shortage and mandatory overtime rates. By December 31, 2024, the Board of Supervisors will develop a plan to
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  By July 31, 2024, ROV create and maintain a record of all incidents of
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  By November 1, 2024, the Board of Supervisors will direct Permit Sonoma to include administrative review of all exceptional fire safety acres or more per parcel, and as zoning density goes up, allowable road mitigation plans to the list of permits needing approval by either lengths get shorter. Observation: During road length limit discussions with Permit Sonoma Design Review Committee or Permit Sonoma Project Review fire safety officials, none expressed concern about new development on Advisory Committee. By November 1, 2024, the Board of Supervisors will dead end roads. direct Permit Sonoma to meet and confer with all independent Fire Exceptions are being granted for minimum road width: FSR language is Prevention agencies to review its mitigation and appeal procedures by clear: two-way roads need to be at least 20 feet wide, and one-way roads February 1, 2025. need to be at least 12 feet wide (and cannot be longer than ½ mile).
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  By November 1, 2024, the Board of Supervisors will direct Permit Observation: There are many, many roads in this county that don’t meet Sonoma to identify and map all roads within the SRA that don’t meet these requirements. Enforcing these constraints would also severely limit State FSR standards and publish that map on the County Department future residential and agricultural development in the County. of Emergency Management website by February 28, 2025. Exceptions are granted in violation of statute: The statute limits “Same Practical Effect” exceptions to mitigation of “Defensible Space”. The County S C T & S ONOMA OUNTY AXES PENDING How much do Sonoma County residents pay in taxes, how is that money receive an allocated portion of the Prop 13 tax collection for use within spent, and how hard is it to answer these questions? The public is entitled these areas. to the information it needs to make informed judgments about taxes and Prop 13 Taxes on Tangible business property: $38 Million government spending. In the words of Thomas Jefferson: “wherever the According to the State Board of Equalization, “All property that may be people are well informed they can be trusted with their own government . . seen, weighed, measured, felt, or touched, or which is in any other manner . and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with perceptible to the senses, except land and improvements, is tangible a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take personal property.” And is taxable. it from them, but to inform their discretion.” An informed citizenry is at the VOTER APPROVED LOCAL TAXES: Are we paying for a Cadillac and getting a Yugo, or heart of a dynamic vice versa? As it stands, this question is School District Debt Repayment and Local Parcel Taxes democracy. impossible to answer. There is plenty of data Thomas Jefferson General Obligation Bonds: about collections and spending, but it isn’t captured or presented in ways that citizens or $1.8 billion of debt = $138 million of annual taxes. decision-makers can use. How much is being spent on homelessness in As of June 30, 2023, outstanding school bond debt totaled about $1.4 Sonoma County—does anyone know? The 2020-2021 Civil Grand Jury billion dollars; 34 of the 40 Sonoma County school districts had 76 asked the County that question, and it took almost three years to get an outstanding bonds. Bond debt isn’t spread evenly around the county: as of answer. (Read this report to find out what we learned!) April 2024, (4) school districts have no outstanding debt, while 9 school districts have more than $40,000 of indebtedness per student! Sonoma Government transparency doesn’t inform; in fact, disclosure rules make it County Jr. College has issued about $660 million of debt; $400 million is difficult to know how much is collected and impossible to know where it still outstanding. County residents paid $138 million for repayment of goes. For example, are you paying more or less than your neighbors for school bonds in 2023, an average of $2,151 per student. public schools? Answering that one would take a lot of time. When we voted for additional fire protection spending in March, did you know— Parcel taxes and direct levies: $82 million in fiscal 2023 before you voted—that it would essentially double current spending? EXCEPTIONS AND EXEMPTIONS: The Grand Jury is uniquely chartered to see that local government is A report on property taxes in agrarian Sonoma County should mention operating efficiently. Taxes and spending are big topics, and you will learn property that is either exempt from tax or has substantially discounted at least one thing you didn’t know—if we’re wrong, PLEASE join next year’s assessments. There are roughly 187,500 property parcels in Sonoma Grand Jury: we need the help! County. ~2,600 parcels benefit from agricultural tax subsidies via CLCA, This is a 26-page report cut to 2+ pages. Most text and data was also known as “Williamson Act” status; this results in assessment excised; if you’re interested in this topic, read the full report. reductions of up to 95% of just the land value. Sonoma County CLCA properties saved approximately $30 million in 2023. TAX COLLECTIONS LOCAL SALES TAX COLLECTIONS California’s tax structure has three major pillars: sales, income and State law apportions 1% of the 7¼% statewide sales tax directly to counties property taxes. Quick definitions: and cities in each county. In total, the State collected and distributed $122 Ad Valorem: Latin that translates as “according to the value of” something. million in fiscal 2023 as follows: Cloverdale $1.1 million; Cotati $2.9 In other words, ad valorem taxes will be a percentage of the assessed value million; Healdsburg $5.9 million; Petaluma $17.8 million; Rohnert Park of real property. $9.9 million; Santa Rosa $46.7 million; Sebastopol $2.3 million; Sonoma Basis: the assessed value of real property, regardless of whether the $3.8 million; Windsor $5.6 million; and Sonoma County $26 million. The assessment reflects a current appraisal of market value. State also collected and sent approximately $31 million to Sonoma County for road maintenance and transportation initiatives. General Levy Ad Valorem PROPERTY TAX: $1.21 Billion Voter-approved County Sales Taxes: $220 million Established by Proposition 13 in 1978, the General Levy limits property taxes to 1% of assessed value with annual valuation increases limited to the As of January 2025, there will be at least eight specific sales taxes that inflation rate or 2% (whichever is smaller). Prop 13 property tax $ are apply to every taxable transaction in Sonoma County, adding 13/ 4 % to all distributed to schools, local governments, and special districts. Here’s taxable purchases. These taxes take the baseline 7¼% state tax up to 9% where it goes: throughout the county. Prop 13 Taxes: Schools $595 Million Open Space, Clean Water and Farmland Protection: ¼% Prop 13 Local Government Taxes: $433 Million. Ag + Open Space District collects ~$32 million per year to purchase property and/or pay for conservation easements. Since 1991, approximately $450 Sonoma County and the 9 cities rely on ad valorem property taxes for million of easements constrain 123,000 acres from future development and much of their funding. The County and nine cities received more than $433 ~4,200 acres of land owned outright. Financial report shows a very healthy million dollars from Prop 13 taxes in fiscal 2023. Property taxes are the fund balance of $65 million. This tax is scheduled to end in 2031, unless largest single source of local government revenue. extended by voter approval. Prop 13 Special District Taxes: $125 Million Special district agencies including fire, water, health districts, lighting and sanitation districts and other service entities are formed by local or county government. Special districts have defined geographic boundaries and will Library Maintenance, Restoration, Enhancement: 1/ % ADDING IT ALL UP: $3.9 BILLION 8 Generates ~$16 million per year for 14 libraries in the 9 cities and the unincorporated county. This tax supplements ~$27 million in Prop 13 taxes WHERE DOES ALL THE MONEY GO? allocated to libraries. This tax is scheduled to end in 2027, unless extended The Citizens’ Report is the County’s best effort at aggregating County revenue by voter approval. and expense in terms that people can understand; it is highly recommended. You can even learn that the County has more than half a Local Mental Health, Addiction and Homeless Services: ¼% billion dollars of unfunded pension liabilities: But…the Citizens’ Report is Measure O generates approximately $32 million per year and provides limited to its focus on the County (i.e., the collection of agencies that are investment into the following five types of programs: Behavioral Health directly managed (and funded) by the Board of Supervisors) —and as other facilities and services (22%); Emergency psychiatric crisis services sections of this report show, Sonoma County is much more than the (44%); Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Outpatient County. Services (18%); Homeless and high needs individuals’ behavioral health and multidisciplinary care coordination (14%) Transitional and We tried to use the County budget as our roadmap to County spending permanent supportive housing for the homeless (2%). This tax is information, and it has plenty of useful information such as the County scheduled to end in 2031, unless extended by voter approval. procures, and coordinates more than $2.2 billion of goods and services; Sonoma County is the county’s single largest employer; and the “General Parks for All: 1/ % 8 Fund” has grown from $373 million in 2019 to more than $450 million in $11 million in 2022-23 augments funds for regional parks and local fiscal 2024. recreation programs. One-third of the money is shared with Sonoma What won’t you learn? You won’t learn how much is spent to help the County’s cities to maintain and improve local parks. This tax is scheduled homeless; the Homelessness Department has a $16 million budget, just a to end in 2027, unless extended by voter approval. fraction of the dollars actually spent: County staff told us 2021-22 Transportation Authority Go Sonoma: ¼% spending was actually $129 million. This tax adds to the ¼% transportation sales tax collected by the State; it This is understated: it includes no Corrections Department costs and at generated ~$32 million in addition to the $33 million from the state- least 25% of Corrections’ $80 million annual budget could be attributed to imposed ¼% transportation sales tax. This tax is scheduled to end in 2045, homelessness services. How much are we spending on schools? There is no unless extended by voter approval. report from the County Office of Education, Board of Supervisors, or State Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District: ¼% that aggregates spending for county schools, the single most costly government service. Prop 13 taxes generate about $600 million, and the 67% of SMART’ revenue is from this ¼% sales tax; $32 of $50 million sales State reports about $875 million went to Sonoma County school districts, taxes collected for SMART in fiscal 2023 came from Sonoma County. so annual operational spending for public schools in the county must add Ridership recovered to pre-COVID levels faster than any other bay area up to ~$1.5 billion—but absent an actual accounting, this is just a best transit system, but the average out-of-pocket cost per passenger trip still guess. The Grand Jury believes that something this significant deserves exceeds $50. This tax is scheduled to end in 2029, unless extended by voter more than a best guess. approval. Changing this paradigm will be challenging, but it’s certainly possible: the Wildfire Prevention, Paramedic Services, and Emergency Board of Supervisors can mandate it, and accountants and analysts can Response/ Measure H: ½% make it happen. The public can’t make good decisions without good This tax will generate approximately$62 million annually in fiscal year information; at present, the data isn’t available in any manner that can be 2025. This tax never ends unless revoked by voters. fairly reviewed or reasonably understood. SALES TAX SUMMARY: WHO’S MINDING THE STORE? At 9%, Sonoma County has the fourth highest county-wide sales tax rate The Board of Supervisors has the authority to impose fees, propose and in California. With Measure H in 2025, county and city sales taxes will endorse new taxes, and recommend retention (or withdrawal) of voter- exceed $220 million per year. There is no public accounting of incremental approved taxes. There is no “Inspector General” or “Public Watchdog”. The spending for the taxes that promise it. Sales tax measures supporting Civil Grand Jury exists to review County operations but has no real libraries, parks, mental health, fire, and emergency services all promise resources for serious investigation, let alone the authority to mandate that the money raised by these taxes will be truly incremental to previous improvement. funding. Is there evidence in the public record to verify that this The public also has a role: virtually all publicly approved tax measures commitment is met? The Grand Jury couldn’t find public reports to include reference to an oversight committee that will ‘make sure the money confirm. is being spent appropriately.’ Language promising oversight is in every TAXES ON PERSONAL INCOME public tax measure, but what do these oversight committees do? Most of the time, they simply review reports. Similarly, school bond oversight Personal income taxes are levied by the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), and the committees just review annual bond proceeds audits, and most school FTB website has an enormous amount of data about tax payments statewide. districts disband their committees because of lack of interest. We can tell you, that Sonoma County residents pay more than $1.5 billion in personal state income taxes, and that the county pays more per capita Oversight committees don’t do much, so that leaves the elected County personal income taxes than all but 11 of the 58 counties in California (while Auditor to ensure the public interest is represented when governments ranking 17th in total population). spend public money. The Audit division has uninhibited and complete authority to fulfill its objectives. The Grand Jury feels that performance audits are needed for real oversight—and they take a lot of time and expertise. Sonoma County’s Audit team published 28 audit reports during the past three years. Only one performance audit has been completed (and it took almost 2 years to be publicly released.) Most County agencies, spending significant taxpayer dollars, have never had a performance audit. FINDINGS There are two reasons why more performance audits haven’t been
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  By December 31, 2024, mandated monthly overtime for SCSO Corrections Officers will average no more than 25 hours a month.
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  Responses to Sonoma County Civil Grand Jury Reports 2018-2019 through 2021-2022 This year the Sonoma County Grand Jury reviewed Grand Jury reports from 2018 to 2022. The Grand Jury looked at all responses to recommendations to see whether commitments had been fulfilled and promised actions had been taken. The following tables show findings and recommendations that were not resolved in prior years’ reports, and whether government commitments for future action were eventually met. We’re pleased to note that most government commitments were fulfilled and equally pleased to share the short list of items still outstanding. Agencies and elected officials receiving a Grand Jury report are required to respond to Findings in one of three ways: • The report’s findings may be wholly accepted, or rejected, as written. • The report’s findings may be partially accepted and partially rejected, or • The report’s findings require further analysis. No follow-up action (by either the Grand Jury or the respondent) is required in cases where findings are accepted or rejected. When the respondent said a recommendation required further analysis, however, the public is entitled to know what that analysis concluded; this report will tell you. Recommendations must be responded to in 1 of 4 ways: • The recommendation is accepted and has already been implemented. • The recommendation is rejected and no further action will be taken. • The recommendation requires further analysis (which should be completed of publication of the Grand Jury report). • The recommendation has not yet been implemented but will be implemented in the future. Department heads of government agencies are required to respond of the Grand Jury’s issuance of a report; elected officials and agencies run by boards are allowed an additional 30 days. Responses stating that “further analysis is required” or that “recommendations will be implemented in the future” are a commitment to action that isn’t monitored; this can be a convenient way for respondents to kick the can down the road (and hope it goes unnoticed). CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT 2018-2019 UPDATED RESPONSES Will There Be Water After an Earthquake? Sonoma County Residents Face Big Challenges (6) Grand Jury recommendations remained open following the 2019-2020 Grand Jury continuity report. The major items focused on the need for comprehensive plans in advance of an emergency event, more coordination between Sonoma Water and their contractors (i.e. city and regional water suppliers) responsible for final delivery to residents; and a request that water contractors make their systems more adaptable for emergency conditions. Extensive follow-up from Sonoma Water and all nine sub-contractors determined that material progress has been made on all of these recommendations. It appears that coordinated planning between Sonoma Water and its contractors, and exercises to prepare for emergency situations are in place. The Jailhouse Rocks: Main Adult Detention Facility (3) outstanding items in this report related to the health of inmates booked or discharged after normal business hours, and staffed medical services. The 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury concluded that MADF had implemented all 3 of these recommendations (but, as can be seen in this year’s report, there is still some work to do regarding discharge procedures for inmates with substance used disorders and, especially, mental health issues). The Behavioral Health Budget: A Perfect Storm There were (4) outstanding Recommendations from this report. In light of the 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury’s investigation, it’s interesting to note the recommendation “The CAO will maintain policy and procedural manuals for each DHS department and manuals for all positions in Fiscal & Behavioral Health Divisions.” —proving that old problems can still resurface in spite of assurances. The big outstanding item that is still an unresolved issue: “DHS will continue and expedite the Community Based Organization (CBO) contract evaluation and build performance metrics.” The 2023-24 Grand Jury found that “DHS stated that it adopted specific budgetary policies and procedures in summer of 2019 to address this finding.” Nonetheless, from 2022 to the present, DHS contract performance has been problematic, and no performance metrics are being published. Managing Public Properties in Sonoma County: Uncoordinated Decisions and Neglect (2) outstanding recommendations were both resolved. CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT 2019-2020 UPDATED RESPONSES Sonoma County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office: The Resurrection of a Coroner’s Office The only outstanding recommendation—that the Sheriff identify a new location for the Coroner’s office and morgue—has been resolved. The Coroner’s Office/morgue is now located at 2796 Ventura Ave., Santa Rosa. HOMELESS YOUTH: Sonoma County in Dubious First Place The report had (6) open recommendations, and this year’s investigation concluded that 5 had been resolved: facilities and beds for homeless youth increased substantially, a substance use disorder program specifically for young people was established, and persistent funding programs were established. Unfortunately, one of the most significant youth homelessness programs recently declared bankruptcy so this topic may need follow-up in 2024-25. SONOMA COUNTY HAS A HOMELESS CRISIS: Is There a Response Plan? When the 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury reviewed this report and its responses last fall, we were optimistic: it appeared as though all (6) open recommendations had been resolved. In hindsight, though, (4) of the (6) still deserve future consideration: while DHS & the Homelessness Division of CDC have merged, there are open questions about the provided services, stable funding, and the County’s ability to reliably track homelessness spending. EMERGENCY WATER SHORTAGES IN SONOMA VALLEY: The Situation Has Worsened The 2019-2020 Civil Grand Jury did a follow-up to the 2018-19 report on Emergency Water supplies (note: drought makes this a highly repeatable topic!) Specific points of interest focused on issues in Sonoma Valley and Valley of the Moon. Our follow-up with Sonoma Water and these sub-contractors determined that material progress has been made on all of these recommendations, but water in Sonoma Valley continues to be a significant concern. CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT 2020-2021 UPDATED RESPONSES BROADBAND ACCESS IN SONOMA COUNTY: Broadband IS a Utility: The Quiet Crisis of Availability This report alerted citizens to the challenges of delivering high speed internet access through Sonoma County and recommended that the Board of Supervisors designate broadband as a “Utility”. The BoS declined to do so, although it did include broadband access in the County Strategic Plan. COUNTY JAIL INMATE TELEPHONE AND COMMISSARY: Overcharging a Captive Population Before Covid, Sonoma County charged inmates 21 cents per minute to make phone calls. This was highly profitable for the company providing service, and the Sheriff’s office put commissions from these charges into the Inmate Welfare Trust (then used the Inmate Welfare Trust to pay for indigent inmate supplies and ‘programming’.) The 2020-21 Civil Grand Jury thought 21 cents per minute was excessive and inequitable, and recommended that the Sheriff’s Office provide 90 minutes of calls and video visitation to all inmates without charge. It also recommended that the Commissary (which inmates with funds can use to purchase snacks, personal hygiene items and other sundries) lower prices so that they would be closer to grocery store prices and add community members to the Inmate Welfare Trust board to create more equitable community representation. In response, the Sheriff’s Office introduced a communications pricing model that provides up to 70 minutes of calls at 7 cents per minute. It also brought in a new vendor to operate the commissary, with prices that were closer to convenience/grocery store pricing. Two civilians have also been added to the Inmate Welfare Trust board. The 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury concluded that all of these Recommendations have been Partially implemented. COVID MITIGATION AND THE COUNTY JAIL And its Unexpected Consequences Covid introduced many required modifications to County Jail procedures, ranging from reduced out-of-cell activity to drastic reductions in educational and informational programming. It also led to some question about inmate and staff compliance with vaccine protocols, and a recommendation that the Jail add (4) Wellpath staff to increase discharge planning resources. The end of the declared Covid Emergency rendered some of these recommendations moot. Nonetheless, there have been continued issues with staffing (in part due to a Covid-period hiring freeze) that have resulted in continued issues reaching statutory requirements for out-of-cell activity time, and no additional discharge planners have been hired. EMERGENCY ALERTS AND COMMUNICATIONS: Toward a Culture of Preparedness (4) unresolved Recommendations: review and propose additional alert and warning methods; provide funding to maintain the communication tower equipment/repeaters; update the Emergency Operations Plan to incorporate the most up-to-date information on the Emergency Management website; and implement the recommendations from the 2017 After Action Reports. All 4 recommendations have since been implemented. ROHNERT PARK ELECTION DISTRICTS: Transitioning from At-Large to District-Based Elections A recommendation that the City Council allow for discussion of demographics changes due to new census data was implemented in March of 2022. CIVIL GRAND JURY REPORT 2021-2022 UPDATED RESPONSES DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: Dedication Overcame Dysfunction (4) unresolved recommendations: establish an Ombudsperson to provide County employees a neutral means to voice issues of concern; develop an actionable plan to address work culture issues including retaliation, harassment and bullying; develop a clearly defined and actionable internal communication plan that includes greater transparency and staff participation throughout the department; and develop a plan for County Human Resources Department to have oversight authority over DHS human resource division. The 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury concluded that none of these recommendations have been fully implemented, although some progress had been made toward resolving each of these recommendations. That being said, as you saw in this year’s DHS report, there are still major issues regarding all of these (and other) issues within DHS. AFFORDABLE HOUSING: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE Open recommendations: Permit Sonoma and the nine cities to standardize procedures related to development of affordable housing, discuss fee-reduction for affordable housing throughout the County, and allow nontraditional options such as manufactured homes and tiny homes to increase housing supply. The 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury concluded that all 3 recommendations have been met. AFFORDABLE HOUSING: MONITORING AND COMPLIANCE (5) open recommendations: Community Development Commission (CDC) and 9 cities to agree on a) procedures for monitoring affordable housing and ensure they have personnel to conduct on-site monitoring b) process self-reported monitoring data; and c) maintain an inventory of affordable houses and verify that all of their property titles are flagged for restricted sale. The 9 cities will develop policies to provide training in monitoring and compliance procedures for developers and managers of affordable housing projects; the 9 cities will discuss pooling monitoring resources. The 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury investigation concluded that all 5 of these recommendations have been met. Monitoring staff have been hired by the CDC, and the current inventory of available housing is now updated quarterly. Compliance monitoring and training have been brought up to federal standards county-wide. ROHNERT PARK DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Better Procedures to Avoid Future Misconduct (6) open recommendations focused on the City Manager improving management personnel evaluations; getting feedback from the Public Safety Officer Association; establishing a Community Round Table; and installing GPS tracking on all police vehicles. The 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury follow-up investigation concluded that all 6 recommendations have been implemented. SMART DECISION-MAKING: Citizen Feedback is Critical for Success The 2021-22 Civil Grand Jury felt that SMART (the Sonoma-Marin train) wasn’t meeting citizen oversight requirements, even though it met the minimal requirements in the language of the authorizing sales tax measures. 9 open recommendations for expanding its role included adding functional committees; having the Committee report to the Board instead of management; requiring consideration of oversight committee reports; and training in statutory public disclosure requirements. The 2023-24 Civil Grand Jury concluded that following a change in senior SMART leadership, combined with new Citizens’ Oversight Committee Bylaws and membership, all 9 of the recommendations have been implemented. R 2022-2023 S C C G J R ESPONSES TO ONOMA OUNTY IVIL RAND URY EPORTS Providing Continuity by Following Through on Previous Investigations The 2022-2023 Grand Jury issued three investigative reports. According to the California Penal Code (933.05), governing bodies and officials are required to respond to Findings in Grand Jury reports in one of the following ways: the respondent agrees with the Finding; or disagrees wholly or partially with the