The Sacramento County Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26 has been released. The Board of Supervisors will begin hearings on the Recommended Budget at 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 4, in Board Chambers at the Sacramento County Administration building, located at 700 H Street in Sacramento.
The public is invited to attend the hearings and be heard on any items in the budget, either publicly or through written comments. Budget hearings will also be telecast live on Metro Cable 14 and the County’s website.
The hearings will continue beginning at 9:30 a.m. through June 5 and 6, if necessary.
Spending Plan
This year’s $8.9 billion spending plan is a decrease of 2.8% compared to the FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget. Of the total $8.9 billion budgeted:
- $3.4 billion is in Enterprise and Special Revenue Fund appropriations (utility rates, fees and other dedicated revenue)
- $4 billion is in General Fund appropriations (funded with $1 billion in discretionary resources, $1.6 billion in reimbursements from restricted funds, and the remaining $1.4 billion in Federal, State and fee revenue dedicated to specific purposes)
- $1.6 billion in Restricted Funds (amounts transferred to the General Fund to reimburse eligible expenditures in General Fund departments)
Budget Process/Challenges
In February/March of each year, County departments, as well as elected officials’ offices (Assessor, Board of Supervisors, District Attorney and Sheriff), submit General Fund budget requests to the Office of the County Executive (OCE). The OCE sets a target for budgets, based on revenue projection estimates for the coming fiscal year.
This year’s target was to submit a budget to keep the same discretionary resources flat, or at status quo.
“This year’s budget aims to address a long-standing structural imbalance that has relied on one-time resources to fund ongoing expenditures,” says County Executive David Villanueva. “The imbalance has resulted from expenditures growing faster than revenues, in part due to costs required to comply with County obligations, particularly the Mays Consent Decree regarding conditions in the County’s jails.
“I would like to thank County departments for their collaborative and cooperative approach as they identified areas of reduction while minimizing impacts as much as possible,” says Villanueva. “They made difficult choices and in doing so, allowed us to present a balanced budget.”
In those budget requests departments and offices identify their funding needs to continue ongoing programs, request funding for new programs, and/or identify reductions when necessary. If departments needed increased discretionary funding to maintain existing service levels, they were asked to submit reduction scenarios, in priority order, along with their growth requests.
In April and May, department/elected offices budgets are refined and adjusted by OCE staff and reviewed in in-person meetings with department heads and staff. After those meetings, OCE staff finalized the FY 25-26 recommended budget and briefed each member of the Board of Supervisors to provide an overview of significant reductions, growth and other budget issues.
"In advance briefings leading up to the recommended budget, I was concerned about proposals from the District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Office for reductions in their respective offices," says Chair of the Board and First District Supervisor Phil Serna. "The DA's proposal to cut the misdemeanor unit and the Sheriff's plan to eliminate the HOT and POP teams were troubling.
“Despite the OCE presenting alternative approaches that could have minimized impact while achieving necessary savings, both the DA and Sheriff rejected those suggestions,” Serna said. “As such, it remains particularly concerning that the DA and Sheriff continue to propose cuts to critical programs and services that our constituents deserve and rightfully expect, especially given voters’ recent adoption of Proposition 36.”
General Fund Available Balance
The General Fund beginning available balance (which represents unspent funding from FY 2024-25) is estimated at $71 million. This represents a 37% reduction compared to the FY 2024-25 available fund balance of $112 million, where $80 million was used to fund ongoing expenditures. This structural imbalance contributed to the need to make expenditure reductions in this year’s budget.
Because of this, County departments were asked this year to submit budgets with no increase in discretionary funding.
Budget Reductions
The FY 25-26 General Fund reductions total $18 million, which will result in the deletion of 73 full-time equivalent (FTE) positions.
All positions recommended for deletion were either vacant or sufficient vacancies existed within the department such that the recommended reductions are not anticipated to result in the deletion of filled positions.
Significant reductions, identified by departments, include:
Agricultural Commissioner: Due to an anticipated reduction of $127,000 in State funding, including the complete elimination of the Detector Dog Program, 1 FTE reduction.
Child, Family, and Adult Services: $0.4 million reduction in total appropriations and Net County Cost representing a 0.9% reduction to the department’s requested base budget.
Child Support Services: $0.5 million reduction for 5 FTE positions due to frozen State funding levels.
Human Assistance: Due to a reduction in the State CalFresh allocation, 13 FTE with total appropriations of $1.7 million are recommended for reduction.
Public Defender: $1.0 million reduction in total appropriations and Net County Cost representing a 1.8% reduction to the department’s requested base budget. Recommended reductions include the deletion of 1.0 FTE position.
District Attorney: $1.8 million reduction in total appropriations and Net County Cost representing a 2.0% reduction to department’s requested base budget and the deletion of 6.0 FTE positions in the Misdemeanor Trials and Misdemeanor Court Review Units.
Regional Parks: $1.6 million reduction in total appropriations and Net County Cost representing an 8.4% reduction to the department’s requested base budget. Recommended reductions include the deletion of 2.0 FTE positions.
Sheriff: $9.6 million reduction in total appropriations, $1.5 million due to a loss of revenue funding 8 FTE, with the remaining $7.4 million in Net County Cost representing a 1.9% reduction to the department’s requested base budget and the deletion of 28 FTE positions, which include all positions in the HOT and POP Teams. Incumbents in these positions would be moved to other vacancies in the department.
Budget Growth
General Fund growth totals $43 million, with $9 million of that amount funded with Net County Cost. Given the overall shortfall in discretionary resources relative to base budget funding needs, Net County Cost growth is focused on the most critical needs and largely reflects the Budget Priority #1 – County Obligations, with much of this growth focused on compliance with the Mays Consent Decree.
The most significant General Fund growth includes:
Correctional Health Services: $9.0 million ($6.3 million Net County Cost) primarily to support the County’s obligations under the Mays Consent Decree Remedial Plan.
Sheriff – $2.1 million total ($1.0 million Net County Cost), including $600,000 Net County Cost for 3.0 FTE Deputy Sheriff positions to escort inmates to and from medical and dental appointments and $500,000 Net County Cost to provide 3 months of funding for 9.0 FTE to support the Acute Psychiatric Unit expansion, both of which support the County’s obligations under the Mays Consent Decree.
Health Services: $11.8 million total, including $6.5 million for a new Behavioral Health Urgent Care Center to support the Mays Consent Decree and funded with Patient Care Revenue.
Homeless Services and Housing: $4.3 million total ($0.6 million Net County Cost) including $3.1 million to support the Watt Safe Stay Campus shelter, operational, and facilities costs, funded with State Homeless Housing and Prevention (HHAP) funding and Behavioral Health Bridge Housing (BHBH) reimbursement from Health Services.
Human Assistance – Administration – $12.8 million total, including $10.0 million for childcare payments for CalWORKs participants funded through the CalWORKs program, $1.5 million for CalWORKs Expanded Subsidized Employment contract expenditures, and $1.3 million for additional CalWORKs staffing.
The budget letter and a complete set of budget documents may be found online and at the County Executive’s Office, 700 H Street, Room 7650.
The Recommended Budget is a preliminary spending plan; the Revised Recommended Budget will be presented to the Board in September for deliberation and adoption.
For more information about the County budget, including the budget process/timeline, key budget terms/glossary, the Budget Explorer Tool and more, visit the Sacramento County Office of Budget and Debt Management website.