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Board of Supervisors Department

Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council

Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council

The Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council (River MAC) is established to advise the Board of Supervisors and other County decision-makers on local planning and management decisions relating to the Lower Russian River region; to provide a regular forum for citizen participation in the formation of advisory recommendations on those decisions; and to provide a bridge for communication between the County and residents, businesses, and the general public on local government decisions affecting the Lower Russian River.

Join the River MAC!

  • The Forestville, Hacienda, Guerneville areas of the River MAC will have openings for two-year terms from January 2024 - December 2025. Check your address on the map here to see if you live in one of these areas. 
  • Applications are due by August 31 and can be completed here.
  • For more information, contact the Office of Supervisor Hopkins at district5@sonoma-county.org

Lower Russian River Governance Study

The Lower Russian River Governance Study is in full gear! We convened Community Workshop 1 on February 4, 2023 and Community Workshop 2 on July 15, 2023. Your participation is a vital part of the process of creating an effective, responsive plan!

today's objectives: what is a governance solution? which services can be improved by governance solutions and which can't? which solutions fit best with the needs & capacity of this community? download slides from Workshop 2 here

If you were unable to attend the Community Workshop on July 15, please do take a few moments to complete this survey to help our consultants shape their recommendations.

The Governance Study will seek to improve government services in the Lower Russian River region. The Study will take 6 – 9 months (Dec '22 – Sept '23) and result in recommendations for improving local, "city-level" services throughout the Lower Russian River region. Recommendations will be based on an analysis of funding and governance strategies matched with community input on service gaps and needs. 

Through public workshops, stakeholder meetings, and online tools, the community will be asked to identify unmet needs, gaps in existing services, and potential new services. And, the community will have a chance to review current revenue spending and governance tools to understand such questions as "where are ToT revenues spent?"  

The Office of Supervisor Lynda Hopkins District 5 is managing the Study with technical and outreach support from Blue Sky Consulting Group based in Oakland, California.

For more information, contact the Office of Supervisor Hopkins at district5@sonoma-county.org

The FY 2023-24 Tourist Impact Fund (TIF) Grant Application Process will open soon.

The Sonoma County Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) is a tax on accommodations at lodging and camping facilities in the unincorporated areas of the county. From this fund, each Supervisorial District in the county receives a percentage for discretionary projects within each District from the Tourism Impact Fund (TIF).

These funds are then awarded in small grants to not for profit organizations to create improvement projects in their community. Awards are based upon the TIF funding area and criteria as listed in below. For geographical areas covered by Municipal Advisory Councils (MAC), the TIF policy has been determined by the MAC with input from the community. For those geographical areas not covered by a MAC, the application will go to District 5 staff and similar policy and procedures will be followed.

General Funding Criteria (No preferential order)

*Applicants must be a not-for-profit organization.

Extra points will be given to those projects that can demonstrate the following, although all good projects fitting the funding priority areas will be considered. 

  • Greatest Impact on Community
  • Multi-Community Benefit
  • Best Return for Dollars (Leveraging/Matching Funds)
  • Geographic Fairness
  • Environmental Sensitivity

River MAC funding priorities

  • Trash removal
  • Restrooms
  • Community Resilience
  • Parking / Crosswalks / Sidewalks
  • Disaster preparedness
  • Security
  • Homeless prevention

Grants are awarded throughout the year on a rolling basis. The PDF application form for the 5th District TIF Grants is linked here:  

  • 5th District TIF application 2023 - 2024 coming soon

Lower Russian River Municipal Advisory Council Calendar

Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting Calendar

26
Sep 2023
8:30 a.m.

Board of Supervisors Meeting

03
Oct 2023
8:30 a.m.

Board of Supervisors Meeting

17
Oct 2023
8:30 a.m.

Board of Supervisors Meeting

24
Oct 2023
8:30 a.m.

Board of Supervisors Meeting