The county of Marin, Marin’s cities and towns and dozens of other local taxing agencies will divvy up about $13 million in property tax revenue that will be refunded by the state by the end of the fiscal year in June, a county finance official said Tuesday.

The county will get the lion’s share of the money, about $8.3 million. Marin municipalities and special districts will share about $4.8 million, county Finance Director Roy Given said.

County supervisors have already decided how to spend it. On Tuesday, at the recommendation of County Administrator Matthew Hymel, supervisors approved spending $3 million on road improvements, $2.3 million for a storm damage reserve, $2 million for a facilities reserve and $1 million for a state and federal funding reserve.

During a budget workshop on Monday, Hymel told supervisors he was seeking their approval for this now rather than waiting for next year’s budget because “it is important that we address the storm damage needs of our roads and our facilities.”

“We want to fund these things before the summer construction program,” Hymel said.

MARIN SUPERVISORS > MORE COVERAGE

In March, Marin County public works, parks and flood control officials presented the Board of Supervisors with a list of 24 sites damaged by severe rain storms in January and February that will cost an estimated $8.76 million to repair. The officials said that six of the sites need to be fixed soon to avoid the “potential” for further damage to infrastructure or private property.

County officials are seeking financial assistance from the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make the repairs.

Hymel said the storm damage reserve fund “would serve for any disallowances around state and federal reimbursements.”

Hymel said he also wants to add $2 million to the county’s existing $4.1 million facilities reserve.

Roof project delay

During a budget workshop on Monday, Raul Rojas, director of the Marin County Department of Public Works, told supervisors that construction projects in California have been coming in over budget, due in part to a shortage of construction workers. Rojas said the trend doesn’t bode well for the county’s plans to replace the Civic Center roof at an estimated cost of $21.2 million.

“I’m a little worried right now,” Rojas said.

The roof replacement project was slated to begin this summer and conclude in the fall of 2019, but Rojas said he will probably have to delay the project launch until the summer of 2018 because construction companies are overbooked.

And during a budget workshop Tuesday afternoon, Gabriella Calicchio, the county’s director of cultural and visitor services, told supervisors that Marin Center’s Veterans Memorial Auditorium is suffering from decades of deferred maintenance.

Hymel cited several reasons for adding $1 million to the existing $4.8 million state and federal funding reserve. They include a proposed reduction in state funding for In-Home Support Services that could cost Marin County an additional $2.5 million annually.

Education fund

The property tax revenue being refunded is money that the county, local municipalities and special districts are required to contribute to the state’s Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund (ERAF). The fund is used to offset state obligations to schools.

If property taxes in a school district are insufficient to supply required revenue, money is distributed from ERAF. Each county deposits property tax revenues that have been shifted from cities, counties and special districts into this fund.

The county of Marin and the state’s Department of Finance have disagreed for years over how much property tax revenue Marin governmental entities should be contributing to ERAF. Periodically over the years, the elected state controller has intervened, resulting in some of the ERAF money being refunded to Marin jurisdictions.

In 2007, the county of Marin received $16.2 million and local municipalities and special districts got $8.6 million. In 2013, the refund amounted to more than $12 million for the county and nearly $5 million for local municipalities and special districts.

Some of the ERAF money being refunded dates back to 2011. Given said following this latest property tax audit by the controller’s office, Marin’s ERAF refund should be made on a yearly basis.