Funding Information
The County Service Area 38 collects property taxes in order to provide Sheriff patrol services within the unincorporated county. These funds are collected when people pay their property tax bills and allocated into the Sheriff's Department budget during budget hearings annually.
CSA 38 is not a special tax assessment, but rather a part of the 1.0% general tax rate on your property tax bill. The portion of the general tax rate that is assessed for CSA 38 is .0052%. Thus, for every $100 paid in taxes, 52 cents goes into CSA 38.
Funds from CSA 38 are transferred into the Sheriff’s budget as revenue in Charges for Services (line item 41538 – Law Enforcement Services) and are then expended in budget unit 661030 to support costs associated with the Patrol Division, including salaries and benefits for over 80 people, patrol cars, radios, computers, uniforms, training, etc. CSA 38 funding typically supports approximately 10% to 15% of the total Patrol Division expenses in any given year. The Patrol Division typically accounts for approximately 21% of the total Sheriff’s budget in any given year. In fiscal year 24-25 the total Sherif's budget was $110,318,474, total costs for the patrol division were budgeted to be $23,991,750 and total CSA 38 revenues were budgeted to be $3,192,416. The Sheriff’s budget data is available at: https://www2.santacruzcountyca.gov/CAO/StrategicPlan/Budget/2024-25/dept/37