Humboldt County approves $1.65 million Measure Z funding for public safety projects

Humboldt County will channel Measure Z dollars into services residents are likely to feel fast, including a school resource officer in Fortuna and the Eel River Valley, ambulance coverage in eastern Humboldt, and countywide fire and youth diversion programs. But the Board of Supervisors also left a long list of requests unfunded, including a Hoopa highway safety initiative, aviation equipment, a Southern Humboldt helistop, Arcata juvenile diversion work and a local match for a new aircraft rescue truck.

At Tuesday’s meeting, supervisors locked in next year’s Measure Z spending plan, approving $1.65 million in the countywide half-cent sales tax money and adding another $20,000 from county reserves. The funding went to six projects selected by the Citizens’ Advisory Committee on Measure Z Expenditures after it reviewed 14 applications and sent its recommendations to the board.

The approved slate includes child abuse advocacy and support services from the North Coast Rape Crisis Team, the Fortuna Police Department’s school resource officer for Fortuna and Eel River Valley campuses, operational support for the Humboldt County Drug Task Force, fire and emergency support services through the Humboldt County Fire Chiefs’ Association, emergency ambulatory services for K’ima:w Medical Center in eastern Humboldt County, and a teen court diversion program from the Boys & Girls Club of the Redwoods.

The school resource officer program stands out as one of the most visible examples of Measure Z at work. County records say the program has been funded since 2017, but it was suspended for a year when revenue came up short, leaving a gap for roughly 15 campuses in Fortuna and surrounding Eel River Valley schools. This year’s request from the Fortuna Police Department was $249,962.

The competition for the dollars was sharp. County application materials show requests totaled about $2,645,994 against $1.65 million available, leaving nearly $995,994 in applications without funding before the board trimmed the list. Unsuccessful requests included $84,507 for a Hoopa Valley Tribal Police highway safety initiative, $68,827 for a Department of Aviation local match for an ARFF truck replacement, $23,337 for turnout gear, $29,000 for a Southern Humboldt Community Healthcare District helistop, $198,941 for Arcata Police juvenile diversion work and $570,914 for K’ima:w Medical Center ambulance service.

Measure Z has been part of county budgeting since voters first approved it in November 2014 and renewed it in 2018, after public concern in April 2014 about the lack of funding for law enforcement and other public-safety services. Past Measure Z spending has helped pay for fire equipment, rural patrols, sheriff deputies, the Genasys Protect evacuation-zone map, drinking-water system equipment in Trinidad and other emergency services.

The board also deferred a separate item on stronger old-growth protections in Lower Redway, pushing that fight to a future meeting. That debate centers on five old-growth redwoods cut down late in 2025 on a residential parcel at Oakridge Drive and Briceland Road, a dispute that has sharpened questions about the county’s 1996 Q Zone ordinance, CalFire exemptions and who has authority over redwood protection in Southern Humboldt.