Supervisors approve list of projects funded by tax measure, but raise questions over the process.

The Monterey County Board of Supervisors’ vote to approve $9.5 million in projects funded by Measure AA may have been unanimous on Tuesday, Feb. 3, but a majority of the board questioned the process of choosing the projects and called for a more clear policy.

The 2024 voter-approved Measure AA added a one-percent sales tax increase in the unincorporated county in April 2025, with revenues intended to go toward road repairs, park upgrades, public safety and more. Since then, the county has received about $16.3 million in revenue, with some of that already allocated during last year’s budget process, including for body cameras for the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

A committee made up of supervisors Glenn Church and Chris Lopez drafted a list of proposed projects to fund for the current fiscal year, based on needs presented to them by various county department heads during a public meeting.

Those include $5.6 million toward road work, such as a section of Bradley Road in South County, as well as San Benancio Road outside of Salinas, among other roads. Parks are also on the list, including playground upgrades at Royal Oaks and Toro parks, along with a permanent bathroom at the popular entrance to Fort Ord National Monument at Gigling Road and 8th Avenue near Seaside, and disc golf equipment at four parks.

Lopez said the committee tried to come up with a balanced list across all of the county’s five districts, although most of the failing roads fall into South County and need further investment.

Church suggested shifting the $1.6 million proposed for sections of Vierra Canyon Road in Prunedale and Blackie Road in Castroville to a two-mile section of Dolan Road in Moss Landing.

“No road do I get more complaints on than Dolan Road,” he said. “It would be nice to be able to show with these dollars that we are responding to people.”

The supervisors agreed to that change, pushing projects for Vierra Canyon and Blackie roads to the next fiscal year.

But before the vote, the three supervisors not on the Measure AA committee said the entire board needs more input on the projects beforehand.

Supervisor Kate Daniels said voters expect more of San Benancio Road to be repaired, as it was “literally used in the advertisements for Measure AA.” The approved list funds repairs of the road from Highway 68 to Harper Canyon Road.

She said the committee needs to have a policy for allocating funds to help make decisions more clear in the future.

“We will have less frustration in the future, we’re going to know why certain roads were selected and we’re going to see some equity,” Daniels said.

Supervisor Luis Alejo said the board needs more opportunities to get involved and see which projects were excluded so the members have more context to provide input.

Noting that she was “really struggling with the process,” Supervisor Wendy Root Askew said she was willing to support the list now, but advised there needed to be a clearer process moving forward.

“I’m not comfortable with just having supervisors submit district pet projects to an AA committee and have those somehow be put on a list,” she said.