This is a Special Revenue Fund.

This .05% sales and use tax is restricted to funding local human services nonprofit organizations or housing authorities for use in capital projects, including building purchase, remodeling, and/or debt reduction. The tax was originally approved by voters in November 2000 for a three-year term, with subsequent extensions approved in 2003 and 2008. In 2017, voters approved an additional extension through 2034 (Worthy Cause IV).

The 2023 budgeted revenues of $4,720,953 and budgeted expenditures of $6,787,439 result in a projected $3,473,707 year-end fund balance. Staff solicits Requests for Funding (RFFs) from eligible agencies for a competitive pool. Non-profit agencies are selected to receive the Worthy Cause amounts based on the merits of their proposals, and a legal deed of trust ensures the funds are applied to a program that fulfills the voters’ intent.

In the 2020 and 2021 adopted budgets, these restricted revenues and their associated expenditures were included in a unique appropriation within the Health and Human Services Fund (120). In 2021, the county reestablished a separate fund (125) within the county structure to account for this activity and an amendment was processed to move the revenue and expenditure budgets for Worthy Cause back into a fund of its own