Sonoma County Board of Supervisors to vote on $2.14 billion budget Friday

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is poised to approve Friday a roughly $2.14 billion spending plan that the county’s top administrator says offers a small financial cushion for greater investment in some public services.

Heading into the new fiscal year, Sonoma County is in “decent” financial shape but staffing shortages, looming labor negotiations and the threat of a recession cloud the picture, Sonoma County Administrator Sheryl Bratton told the board on Tuesday.

“I predict future budget years are going to be challenging if we do not adequately prepare,” Bratton said.

The proposed FY22-23 spending blueprint reflects a small 1.3% increase over the FY21-22 budget. The board is expected to vote on a finalized budget Friday, following two day-long budget hearings held Tuesday and Wednesday.

The budget accounts for 4,181 full-time employees, an increase of about 25 positions, according to the county’s budget proposal.

The county is set to spend around $792.6 million on salary and benefits, but that total could fluctuate depending on the board’s final vote.

In April, department heads reported staffing shortages and high employee burnout. Bratton reupped those concerns Tuesday, reporting that the vacancy rate across the county’s workforce, at 12% in April, is the highest it’s been in years.

“Many employees have unsustainable workloads and are burning out,” Bratton said.

Bratton’s office wants to shore up reserves, allocate $2.8 million for a general plan update, add full-time positions to departments in charge of real estate, health services and emergency management and allocate $5 million to cover a funding gap for the county’s behavioral health unit.

“A lot of those fit with our priorities already,” said board Chair James Gore.

The Board of Supervisors endorsed a recommended set of proposals from Bratton’s office and another list of secondary spending requests in hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday that were focused on how to tap about $67 million in discretionary funding.

The moves would be largely be covered by the general fund, the $556 million source that supports criminal justice and administrative departments and most discretionary spending.

The real sticking points emerged Wednesday as the board turned its attention to the secondary requests that did not make Bratton’s shortlist.

Supervisors jostled over one-time money to cover park improvement projects, disaster insurance for front line workers and groundwater fees and management.

In a series of straw votes, the board signaled its support for: $1.5 million to cover costs for groundwater administration; $1.4 million to renovate Maxwell Farms Regional Park in Sonoma; $236,000 to fund the county homeless shelter in Guerneville through March 2023; $1.47 million to cover a budget shortfall for Los Guilicos Village, the managed tiny home site for formerly homeless people; and $1.2 million to address food insecurity.

On one of the most hot-button topics for the county’s signature wine industry — farmworker safety amid wildfires — the board agreed to designate $1 million for staff to explore a new program that would offer a type of disaster insurance for farmworkers impacted by disasters and other front line workers.

The board also agreed on a funding framework to address other key issues, ranging from homelessness to climate change. Funding was organized into three buckets: water, housing and community infrastructure, including projects like roads and bike lanes.

The board tentatively allocated $5 million for the water bucket and $10 million for community infrastructure. The housing bucket includes $750,000 in financing to support affordable housing buyers and projects near workplaces and transit.

Speakers pressed the board in testimony this week for greater investments in public transportation, safeguards for farm workers and affordable housing development.

Barring any new board member proposals, Gore said he did not expect the numbers outlined Tuesday and Wednesday to change much Friday.

“It’s not a deliberation day,” he said. “This is tighten up the books.”

You can reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or emma.murphy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MurphReports.