WATSONVILLE — The city of Watsonville is ready to use funds from Measure Q, adopted by Santa Cruz County voters in 2024, but how it will use those funds is up to the City Council — which will vote on staff’s recommendations for a five-year expenditure plan at Tuesday’s meeting.
Approved by voters in the 2024 general election, Measure Q is an annual $87 special parcel tax to fund wildfire prevention, parks, river cleanups and beach projects throughout the county. While most of the funds go toward a county-administered grant program for eligible projects, 20% of the funding goes to Santa Cruz County’s four incorporated cities, based on their population and a minimum annual distribution of $200,000 per city.
Watsonville received $447,312 in the 2025-26 fiscal year — the first full year of Measure Q’s allocation — with an additional $457,000 expected in the current fiscal year. To account for this new source of income, a total of $904,312 was appropriated as part of the city’s most recent budget.
However, according to a staff report, staff postponed requesting the council approve an expenditure plan as it waited to see what would happen with a potential Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association-backed ballot measure called “Local Taxpayer Protection Act to Save Prop. 13,” which aimed to increase the threshold to approve voter-initiated tax measures from a simple majority to two-thirds vote, potentially invalidating initiatives like Measure Q. The measure was removed from the November ballot and replaced with Proposition 43, which will be on the ballot and has the same objective but will not be applied to initiatives approved prior to the November 2026 election, preserving Measure Q’s funds.
The staff report outlined five recommended projects to be financed through Measure Q. The first is the funding of two full-time park maintenance workers and two 960-hour seasonal park maintenance aides, which staff emphasized are needed with the planned reopening of Ramsay Park. The total amount requested is $101,060 for these positions in the current fiscal year.
Other requested funds include $763,252 for the City Plaza Park revitalization project, $40,000 for a plan to address the water quality at Pinto Lake, $748,750 to develop park masterplans for River Park and $246,938 to update the city’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan, which staff noted was last updated in 2008.
With the master plans scheduled to receive funding in subsequent fiscal years, staff is requesting the council approve a total of $904,312 to finance the park maintenance workers, City Plaza revitalization and Pinto Lake water quality plan in the 2026-27 fiscal year.
In other business, the council will conduct a public hearing to consider amending the energy services agreement with Climatec to implement a scope of work that includes on-site energy generation, dewatering improvements and secondary treatment optimization.
The council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on the top floor of the Watsonville City Council Chambers, 275 Main St. A ceremony recognizing new employees and recent retirees and a closed session consisting of a public employee performance evaluation for City Manager Tamara Vides, City Attorney Samantha Zutler and City Clerk Irwin Ortiz will precede the regular meeting at 4:30.
