Social services director warns budget delay could halt payments as county transitions to Workday

Rachel Dillman Parsons, Lake County Social Services director, told supervisors the consequences of not adopting a budget today would extend beyond bookkeeping: the auditor-controller cannot release spending authority for payroll, vendor payments, contract payments and purchase orders without an adopted budget or an interim appropriations resolution. "We essentially cannot pay any bills until your board, passes either a budget or an interim appropriations resolution," Parsons said, listing services that would be affected including landlord payments for housing programs, payments for conserved individuals and court-ordered placements for youth.

Auditor-Controller Genevieve (auditor-controller) explained that the county is in the middle of a Workday go-live and that once the board finalizes changes staff will need roughly 8–12 hours to update the new accounting system, which means payments might not be processed until the next business day even if a budget is adopted. Both Parsons and the auditor urged the board to consider an interim resolution if adoption timing threatened critical payments to vulnerable residents or partner agencies.

Supervisors listened to the operational risks and then directed staff to prioritize any interim appropriations steps necessary to preserve payments for services to the county’s most vulnerable residents while completing the formal budget process.