The city of Sacramento plans to take steps to set up the Measure L children’s fund this summer, staff said Tuesday, but won’t start major spending until next year.
Measure L requires City Council to approve a five-year investment plan running from July 2024 through June 2029 before Sacramento can spend the fund on youth development and violence prevention programs.
But the city can spend up to 20% of the fund on administrative costs during the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1. In the 2023-24 budget proposal, Sacramento is slated to set aside roughly $8.8 million for the fund. The amount is the equivalent of 40% of the city’s estimated annual cannabis business tax revenue.
The city aims to hire a consultant between August and September, said Jackie Beecham, director of the department of Youth, Parks and Community Enrichment. Staff are finalizing a request for proposals and aim to post it within the next three weeks.
“The consultant will specifically help with the development of the strategic plan, so it would just be for this first year,” Beecham said in a council meeting Tuesday. “They would work alongside three staff that we will be recruiting for that will be specifically dedicated and assigned to Measure L and the implementation.”
A five-year strategic investment plan must identify goals, problems, evaluation measures, ways to coordinate with other resources and target populations most affected by poverty, trauma and violence. The children’s fund can be spent on services for anyone under age 25.
Examples listed in the measure include after school activities, youth workforce development, street outreach and mental health counseling.
While the council gets final say on a five-year plan, Measure L requires a nine-member Sacramento Children’s Fund Planning and Oversight Commission to propose it. The group will be separate from, but will work with, the existing Sacramento Youth Commission.
Sacramento could open the application period for the new commission next month and the council could approve appointments in July, according to a timeline Beecham presented.
The oversight commission could hold its first meeting between August and September and finalize a plan between February and April. Once the commission approves a plan around May 2024, the council could approve it the following month, according to the timeline.
Since Measure L passed in November with about 63% of the vote, representatives from organizations that campaigned for it have asked the city to consider community input. Council member Mai Vang on Tuesday proposed the city schedule a meeting with regional youth policy experts this summer.
“$8.8 million sounds like a lot, but I want us to be creative and innovative about how we can be strategic with those dollars to draw down more money for our babies and our youth in our city,” Vang said.
City Manager Howard Chan said he supported such a meeting, but the council did not immediately schedule it.
The Measure L children’s fund does not have an expiration date. Any amount not spent in one fiscal year will carry over to the next year. New investment plans must be created every five years.
CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you. As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.
Donate Today