Two years and four months after accepting $7.8 million as a Dixie Fire settlement from Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the Plumas County Board of Supervisors is poised to adopt standards for spending the money. After discussing principles and priorities to serve as guidelines, the supervisors agreed to create an ad hoc committee to bring specific spending proposals to the full board for adoption.
The goal is to ensure that these one-time funds are spent strategically, said Supervisor Mimi Hall, the board’s vice chair. She and Board of Supervisors Chair Kevin Goss developed the proposal discussed at the board’s April 15 meeting.
“I’ve been wanting to move forward with this for years.”
Jeff Engel, Plumas County supervisor
“It’s high time for us to put these funds to good use, to better serve the community,” Hall said.
“I’ve been wanting to move forward with this for years,” said Supervisor Jeff Engel.
The $7.8 million fund
The $7.8 million settlement the Plumas County supervisors accepted Jan. 17, 2023 was part of a $24 million collective settlement negotiated by attorneys for 10 public entities. The press release issued at the time did not mention the county’s dollar amount.
It was not until August 2023 that the county’s $7.8 million settlement came up at a board of supervisors meeting. They authorized $10,000 from the PG&E settlement for a clinic to spay and neuter feral cats, whose population has exploded since the Dixie fire. Engel voted against the expenditure.
Since then a variety of spending suggestions have come to the board, including County Administrative Officer Debra Lucero’s separate proposals at two different times to put at least $2 million into an investment fund, and to use $6.8 million to address county stability, hazard mitigation and recovery.
The fund has been tapped only twice: $10,000 was allotted to a spayathon project in 2023, and $440,919 earmarked to hire a disaster coordinator for three years on March 18.
The board first agreed to form an ad hoc committee in July 2024 but took no action until the April 15 meeting.
A foundational framework
The county’s 2024-25 budget, approved in October, includes the $7.8 million PG&E settlement. Because it is a one-time fund, a relative rarity for Plumas County, the supervisors and the community should think carefully about how to spend it, Hall said.
Before airing any specific project proposal, she led discussion of a framework of principles to serve as a foundation for future spending decisions. The first principle Hall proposed is restoring the county’s stability and capacity. The Dixie Fire did far more than burn nearly one million acres and destroy homes and public buildings. It sapped some of the county’s spirit.
Hall cited a mass exodus of county staff “who were traumatized and overworked.” In the process, Plumas County lost institutional knowledge and the ability to function at a core level, said Hall. “If we’re going to spend dollars, it’s important that we’re somehow restoring the county’s stability and capacity,” Hall said.
“There are some projects that have a ton of collaboration, a ton of research that’s gone into them, and they’re practically ready to go.”
Mimi Hall, Plumas County supervisor
Other principles in her proposal included avoiding duplication of funding, optimizing and leveraging funds and a level of thoughtful planning and community buy-in Hall called “value readiness.” “There are some projects that have a ton of collaboration, a ton of research that’s gone into them, and they’re practically ready to go. They understand what they need to do to have a high likelihood of success. We should value that,” she said.
Hall’s presentation also suggested priorities for allocating the PG&E funds. She listed restoring county losses and service capacity to increase the county’s organizational resilience. Other priorities, in no particular order, included investing in county infrastructure, supporting housing recovery and development and supporting civic infrastructure in the communities hardest hit by the Dixie fire.
Airports and fairgrounds
The focus of the discussion was on general principles and priorities, but it did include two examples for specific spending. The Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds, Hall said, are among the facilities that need capital improvements. “We have ignored the fairgrounds for many, many years because we simply didn’t have the funds,” she said.
An investment there could be returned in the form of increased usage by out-of-county groups. High Sierra Music Festival, on tap for hosting its 33rd appearance in Plumas County, is one of them. Another usage was mentioned earlier in the board’s April 15 meeting, when a motorcycle group announced it plans to converge on Quincy as part of its annual rally.
“Investing in county infrastructure and the capital needs of county-owned facilities would have a high potential for ongoing economic return,” Hall said.
The county’s three airports could provide similar economic gains, said Tracey Ferguson, the county planning director. They have not been utilized in planning for economic development and have the potential to return revenue with proper investment, she said.
Hall emphasized the value of the “good planning and good work” already done by community organizations, mentioning the Dixie Fire Collaborative as a model. “We should pay attention to that rather than act singularly because we have these dollars,” she said.
The ad hoc committee will include Goss, Hall and Ferguson as well as Interim County Counsel Josh Brechtel and the heads of other county departments. It is expected to return with proposals at the board’s May 6 meeting.