SANTA CRUZ — Santa Cruz County is nearly doubling its investment in an office that coordinates homelessness services in a push to expand local shelter capacity and manage millions in emergency state funds.

A $970,000 budget increase for the county’s Homeless Services Coordination Office was unanimously approved by supervisors Tuesday, bringing the office’s budget up to nearly $2 million for the next fiscal year.

About $590,000 of the new funds stem from Measure G, the half-cent sales tax increase approved by voters in November. An additional $333,000 comes from $10.6 million in one-time emergency state homelessness and housing funds allocated to the county earlier this year.

The new funding is intended to support more overnight shelter capacity, particularly the elusive goal of opening yearround navigation centers at either end of the county.

Modeled after centers in San Francisco, the navigation centers would provide temporary housing while case managers work to connect homeless clients to permanent housing, public benefits and other services.

More than $2.6 million from the emergency state funds are set aside to purchase land for a year-round navigation center in North County, but it remains unclear when — or where — the center may be built.

“We’ve spent a lot of time working on it and talking about it, but it’s been very difficult to site a navigation center in the North County,” said Rayne Marr, the county’s homeless services coordinator. She anticipates finding a permanent site for the center by the end of 2021.

The office is aiming to continue expanding the availability of emergency shelter beds in Santa Cruz County during the next year, primarily by extending temporary shelter services throughout the year.

The Homeless Services Coordination Office is also taking over as the lead agency behind the Homeless Action Partnership starting in July. The partnership is a collaboration between the county, the four cities within its borders and local homeless housing and service providers.

And it will oversee consultants from Focus Strategies as they evaluate the countywide response to homelessness — planning to present policy recommendations by the end of 2019.

Santa Cruz County’s combined investment in homeless services totaled $13.1 million during the current fiscal year, with the bulk of funds spent on health and human services.

The county’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year, beginning July 1, includes $14.6 million to fund homeless services — an increase of about 11%.

Some 2,167 people are homeless in Santa Cruz County, according to preliminary results from a single-day count in January. The results suggest a slight decline from a count two years prior, which tallied 2,249 homeless individuals.

County officials acknowledged the trend appears to be headed in the right direction Tuesday, but emphasized that the crisis continues.

“We know that it’s going to take more investment to really make a dent in this,” said 5th District county Supervisor Bruce McPherson.

“Homelessness is a tragedy for every person, every family and every community that it impacts,” Marr added. “It is one of the most difficult issues communities are facing here in Santa Cruz County, across the state of California and indeed across the nation.”