The Abridged version:
- The Yolo County Board of Supervisors moved ahead Tuesday with a plan that would seek $15 million worth of cuts this year, with more reductions to come.
- The plan assumes no new sources of revenue, but cuts are likely even if the county finds new income streams.
- Where exactly the cuts are coming from isn’t certain, but staff and services are likely to be affected.
Budget cuts are coming to Yolo County.
The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a staff recommendation to seek $15 million worth of cuts in this year’s budget, with more in years to come.
“Eyes wide open, we’re going to be making some cuts,” Supervisor Sheila Allen said.
The county is contending with a structural budget deficit that will require officials to find nearly $27 million this year and tens of millions of dollars more over the next five years. In past meetings, the board discussed options for raising revenue, including imposing new taxes or finding opportunities for economic development. But this time around, staff cautioned that those efforts alone likely won’t solve the problem.
“Most of those options require either voter approval or legislative approval,” said Tom Haynes, director of finance for Yolo County. As a result, they could take years to materialize, if they do at all.
In the meantime, the deficit will continue to increase each year, and the county has exhausted many of its other options.
“Most of the least disruptive tools, or what you might call the low hanging fruit, have already been used,” Haynes said, referring to things like salary savings and one-time pots of money.
That means supervisors will have to make decisions about cutting costs even as they pursue other sources of revenue.
“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Supervisor Angel Barajas said.
Cuts to come sooner or later
Staff came to the board on Tuesday with a handful of options for making countywide cuts, each of which took a different approach to addressing the deficit.
There was a more aggressive option, which would have filled the gap over a couple of years but caused immediate and significant disruptions in county services. On the other end of the spectrum, there was an option that spread the cuts out over five years while relying on potential new revenue streams and reserves to balance the budget.
But supervisors settled on the option that was recommended by staff, which takes a more middle-of-the-road approach.
“We feel that the staff recommendation provides a more balanced approach,” Haynes said.
Instead of pushing the solution out over five years, the staff recommendation addresses the structural deficit over three years. That way, Haynes said, the county takes meaningful action now while still allowing time for revenue enhancement options to pan out.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be meaningful cuts soon.
Without new revenue, the staff plan would mean the county needs to find $15 million in reductions each of the next three years. Even if the county does find new ways to raise revenue, supervisors would likely still need to figure on $15 million in cuts this year and next year, with just over $3 million the year after.
To meet those needs, staff and services would need to be reduced. That could include layoffs of dozens of employees.
“Those are real positions and real people and real programs,” Allen said.
Timeline for budget decisions in Yolo County
Where exactly cuts will be made is not yet certain. After the meeting on Tuesday, staff at county departments will be directed to come up with budget plans that implement cuts.
Depending on the board’s priorities, the reductions won’t come uniformly across the county.
“We don’t presume that reductions are going to be made equitably,” Haynes said.
But final decisions won’t be coming anytime soon. The next budget discussion will be held in March, with the first official budget hearing scheduled for June 9.
Daniel Hennessy joins Abridged from the California Local News Fellowship. He’s a reporter covering Yolo County.