County officials present a 'structurally balanced' 2026–27 budget despite cuts and unfunded positions

County administration told the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 1 that the county's final recommended budget for fiscal year 2026–27 is "structurally balanced," even as it includes a series of across-the-board reductions and proposed unfunding of multiple positions.

"First and foremost, the budget presented is structurally balanced," Casey Moreno said, explaining that budgeted salaries would total about $65,600,000, a reduction of $3.4 million from the previously recommended budget. Moreno said administration and departments submitted more than $3.2 million in reductions, and that additional work since Tuesday produced about $1,189,791 in further removals that helped close the gap.

The administration listed a long set of proposed position changes, including unfunding allocations in the Auditor-Controller, Treasurer-Tax Collector, Assessor, Public Works, IT, Public Defender, Sheriff, Probation and other units. Moreno said some reductions are contingent on vacancies and that a small share—about $200,000—are one-time costs rather than ongoing savings.

Supervisors pressed for clearer, public-facing materials. "Reading off the codes and the numbers makes it very difficult to understand," Supervisor Swatier said, asking administration to provide summaries and printed copies so the public and the board can see what was actually funded and what was not.

County staff acknowledged reporting inconsistencies between different budget reports, attributing some mismatches to report encoding and an upcoming Workday system migration. Mr. Carter, the CAO's office representative, said the discrepancies largely reflect how legacy reports encoded prior-year numbers and that a transition to Workday complicates immediate reconciliation.

What happens next: the board moved toward approving a final recommended budget to meet statutory deadlines while directing staff to return with clarifying documents, copies for the public and follow-up analysis on position allocations and contingencies.