Monterey County received $20 million in state aid to help Pajaro recover from flooding in 2023. County supervisors split the funds between infrastructure projects and direct aid to businesses and residents. (Fidel M. Soto — Noticias Watsonville)

PAJARO >> More than four months after Monterey County hit the deadline to distribute $20 million in state aid for Pajaro after devastating flooding in March 2023, county officials have again delayed disclosing details on how the last of the money for residents and businesses was spent. 

Nicholas Pasculli, a spokesperson for the county, said in a January email that the final report would be available in February. In a Feb. 24 email he wrote that the report was “pending scheduling.” In an email on April 13, he said the “report is not finalized yet.”

Also on April 13, county spokesperson Maia Carroll wrote in an email, “The $10 million [for direct aid] was fully allocated.” Noticias Watsonville has asked for more information on how it was distributed but has not been provided further details. 

The most recent update provided by the county showed that as of September, $600,000 for residents had not yet been distributed. County officials had previously said that if they are unable to distribute all the funds for direct aid, any left over money would go to projects benefiting Pajaro.

“Not everything was perfect, but we fulfilled what was entrusted to us,” Supervisor Glenn Church, whose district includes Pajaro, told us last month.

The $20 million was allocated to the county in July 2023 as part of the California legislature’s budget bill. It was up to Monterey County supervisors how to distribute the money, and Pajaro residents pushed back against a proposal to use $14 million for infrastructure improvements and $6 million for direct aid to residents and businesses. 

After residents’ advocacy, supervisors voted to instead split the money in half: $10 million for projects and $10 million in direct aid. The county had until Dec. 31, 2025 to allocate every dollar or else return the balance to state coffers.

The process to distribute the direct aid was, for many residents, painfully slow and arduous. It took the county and its nonprofit partners tasked with distributing the money, Community Bridges and Catholic Charities, more than a year to hand out roughly $1.4 million and by August 2025 more than $1.7 million still remained unallocated. 

For residents, one of the barriers to qualifying for money was a lack of photos of the damaged property. For business owners, it was often a lack of receipts. 

Daycare business owner Liz Ramírez said in August that despite an estimated $50,000 in damage to her business property, she received $8,000.

“I thought they were going to give a little more,” Ramírez said in Spanish. “I feel they gave me the money to say, ‘Here is what you get, be happy with it.’”

The Pajaro library is being renovated with money from the state. (Fidel M. Soto — Noticias Watsonville)

The most recent report from the county detailed distribution as of September 2025, including approximately:

• $4.7 million distributed to residents.
• $490,000 in administrative costs to distribute funds to residents.
• $3.8 million distributed to businesses. 
• $290,000 in administrative costs to distribute funds to businesses.

Additionally, millions for local projects had been allocated but not yet spent, according to the September report. Money that had been expended for local projects included: 

• $2 million in small local grants.
• $1.5 million for street improvements.
• $2 million to renovate the library.
• $336,000 for the North Monterey County Fire Protection District. 
• $122,000 for the Department of Emergency Management.

Héctor Llamas, owner of Pájaro Food Center, said his business suffered a lot of damages and losses from the floods. 

“The county probably did everything it could. We wanted to have more to make up for everything that was lost,” Llamas said in Spanish. “It could have been done better, but perfection doesn’t exist.”

This week, a staffer for supervisor Church said the final report would be published next month.

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