Bay Area
Marin: Proposed Budget Heads to Supervisors Public hearings on County expenses and priorities scheduled for June 20-22
The proposed budget for 2023-24 is balanced and structurally sound. It maintains current services and makes a few high priority ongoing enhancements to address emerging needs. Most significantly, the proposed budget recommends $49.8 million in one-time allocations funded by $24.4 million from projected current year fund balance and $25.4 million from previously established reserves, special revenue funds, and federal COVID-19 relief funding.

San Rafael, CA – Economic uncertainties linger, but the County Administrator’s Office will present a balanced budget to the Marin County Board of Supervisors at the public hearings on June 20-22.
The proposed budget for 2023-24 is balanced and structurally sound. It maintains current services and makes a few high priority ongoing enhancements to address emerging needs. Most significantly, the proposed budget recommends $49.8 million in one-time allocations funded by $24.4 million from projected current year fund balance and $25.4 million from previously established reserves, special revenue funds, and federal COVID-19 relief funding.
Highlights of significant one-time budget enhancements include:
- Civic Center/Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium modernization program ($30 million)
- Employee retention incentives ($5 million)
- Homeless encampment partnership funds ($2.5 million)
- Enhanced summer road improvement program ($2 million)
- Creation of a workforce housing reserve ($2 million)
- Increase state/federal uncertainty reserve ($1.2 million)
Compared to last year’s budget, the total County proposed budget of $784 million is an increase of 9% and the General Fund budget of $594 million is an increase of 6%.
Three days of informational budget planning sessions were held in March to help inform a proposed budget that reflects the following top priorities:
- building a racially equitable community
- investing in County infrastructure
- preserving and increasing affordable housing choices and addressing homelessness
- addressing County workforce recruitment and retention
- reducing carbon emissions and adapting to climate change
- enhancing disaster preparedness
Budget Director Josh Swedberg said proposed budget for 2023-24 maintains vital County services. “The slowing economy limits our ability to make new ongoing budget enhancements,” he said. “However, the proposed budget makes significant one-time investments while preparing for future uncertainty.”
An additional $3.2 million in new ongoing funding is earmarked for high-priority needs, including implementation of a Sheriff’s Office oversight board as per State Assembly Bill 1185. The proposed budget also provides an increase to the living wage for eligible County workers to $18 per hour, adds job retention incentives for County employees, enhances services to older people, and increases the annual contribution to the capital improvement program by $1 million.
The largest sources of revenue in the budget are taxes (42%) and the state and federal governments (35%). The largest expenditures are for the County workforce’s salaries and benefits (56%) and public services and supplies (35%). Roughly 70% of the County budget is for mandated programs such as public health, public safety, and justice-related services.
The June 20-22 hearings will be aired live and later archived on the County website. The Tuesday session begins at 1:30 p.m. and will feature public comment. Those interested in contributing comments may join online or in the Board chamber at Suite 330, Marin County Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael. The hearings continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday, and the final Thursday session starts at 1:30 p.m. A detailed hearings schedule will be uploaded to the Board’s webpage on June 15.
All public meetings and events sponsored or conducted by the County of Marin are held at accessible sites. If you are a person with a disability and require information or materials in alternative formats – or if you require accommodation to participate in a county program, service or activity – please contact department staff by email or at (415) 473-7331 or (415) 473-4381 (voice/TTY).
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Oakland Post: Week of May 28 – June 30, 2025
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Bay Area
Chevron Richmond Installs Baker Hughes Flare.IQ, Real-time Flare Monitoring, Control and Reduction System
While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.

The Richmond Standard
Chevron Richmond recently installed flare.IQ, a real-time, automated system that will improve the facility’s flaring performance.
The technology, developed by Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business, uses sensors to monitor, reduce and control flaring in real time. It collects and assesses data on refinery processes, such as temperature, pressure, gas flow and gas composition, and adjusts accordingly to ensure flares burn more efficiently and cleanly, leading to fewer emissions.
“The cleaner the flare, the brighter the flame can look,” said Duy Nguyen, a Chevron Richmond flaring specialist. “If you see a brighter flame than usual on a flare, that actually means flare.IQ is operating as intended.”
While the sight of flaring can cause concern in the community, flares are essential safety systems that burn pollutants to prevent them from being released directly into the atmosphere. They activate during startup and shut-down of facility units or during upsets or equipment malfunctions. The typical flare stack is about 200 feet high so that vapors are well above street levels.
“A key element in Baker Hughes’ emissions abatement portfolio, flare.IQ has a proven track record in optimizing flare operations and significantly reducing emissions,” said Colin Hehir, vice president of Panametrics, a Baker Hughes business. “By partnering with Chevron Richmond, one of the first operators in North America to adopt flare.IQ, we are looking forward to enhancing the plant’s flaring operations.”
The installation of flare.IQ is part of a broader and ongoing effort by Chevron Richmond to improve flare performance, particularly in response to increased events after the new, more efficient hydrogen plant was brought online in 2019.
Since then, the company has invested $25 million — and counting — into flare minimization. As part of the effort, a multidisciplinary refinery team was formed to find and implement ways to improve operational reliability and ultimately reduce flaring. Operators and other employees involved in management of flares and flare gas recovery systems undergo new training.
“It is important to me that the community knows we are working hard to lower emissions and improve our flaring performance,” Nguyen said.
Also evolving is the process by which community members are notified of flaring incidents. The Community Warning System (CWS), operated by Contra Costa County is an “all-hazard” public warning system.
Residents can opt-in to receive alerts via text, e-mail and landline. The CWS was recently expanded to enable residents to receive notifications for “Level 1” incidents, which are considered informational as they do not require any community action.
For more information related to these topics, check out the resources included on the Chevron Richmond, CAER and Contra Costa Health websites. Residents are also encouraged to follow @chevronrichmond and @RFDCAOnline on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), where additional information may be posted during an incident.
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