Sonoma County to consider $2 billion budget for fiscal year 2022-23

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors is due to take its first dive into the county’s fiscal year 2022-23 budget which is expected to total $2 billion.

Starting Monday, county departments will present their budget proposals to the board for the upcoming fiscal year. The workshops will preview the big asks, changes and sticking points that will arise during hearings in June, when the board will vote on the final budget.

“The purpose of the workshops is for the board to hear from departments and to ask questions to receive additional information for hearings,” a county staff report said.

The supervisors will be weighing the proposals against a $12.5 million, or 2.1%, deficit forecast for the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to the staff report.

Staffing costs, including those connected to the county’s behavioral health unit and expected increases to pension costs, are behind the anticipated deficit.

“With county agreements with all bargaining units slated to expire either in FY 2022-23 or early in FY 2023-24, there is significant uncertainty as to actual changes to labor costs,” the staff report said.

The $2 billion budget is a 3.2% increase over the current budget, according to staff.

The Transportation and Public Works’ capital projects, and staffing at the Main Adult Detention Facility’s behavioral health unit are the main contributors to the increase, according to the report.

The county’s General Fund, which supports the county’s law and justice and administrative services departments, has also seen an increase. Of the overall budget, the General Fund makes up $556 million, a 4.2% increase over the last year, according to county staff.

Typical of the county’s budget process, the department budgets presented during the workshops will not include requests to bolster or add services and staffing. Those requests, called add-backs, will be presented as separate numbers and considered for inclusion during the June hearings.

So far, the Sheriff’s Office, probation department, general services and information systems departments plan to request add-backs totaling $2.8 million.

The add-backs include staffing requests for the sheriff’s department, probation department and information services, and a year of funding for the North County Detention Facility.

Monday’s workshop will include presentations from the Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office, the county’s clerk-recorder-assessor and the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach, the county’s law enforcement watchdog.

Presentations from the county’s permitting department, equity office, water agency and agriculture and open space department will follow on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A complete list of the workshop schedules is available on the Board of Supervisors’ website.

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