AB109 committee raised alarm over shrinking fund, proposes $800,000 reserve floor

The Chair of the Alpine County AB109 committee presented financial projections showing FY26–27 revenues around $417,000 and budgeted expenses of about $681,000, a gap the Chair described as "a loss of 264,000, which would bring us down to, $833,000 for a balance at the end of the year." The presentation traced the shortfall to the loss of a roughly $100,000 state plan payment and several repeated one-time expenses that include payment support for the public defender, district attorney, and sheriff personnel.

The Chair proposed a reserve policy that would set a funding floor of $800,000. "If the fund balance goes below $800,000, we get together and we have a meeting, we have a discussion about it," the Chair said, emphasizing the policy is intended as a planning trigger rather than a legally enforceable stop on spending. Committee members asked for legal and procedural clarity and instructed the Chair to bring the reserve policy and the financials to the county audit & finance committee and the Board of Supervisors for review before any formal adoption.

Members framed the proposal as an effort to avoid the county reaching a crisis point where it would have to shift AB109 expenditures to the county general fund. Discussion included options for preserving principal to sustain interest income and a suggestion by one member that a $1,000,000 target would yield more sustainable interest revenue. The committee did not adopt the policy at the meeting and asked staff to return with next steps and legal advice from county counsel.