Sonoma County supervisors dismayed by looming budget cuts

Sonoma County supervisors got their first look at a $1.87 billion budget that will force difficult choices regarding jobs and county programs.

Unveiling a preliminary spending plan two months earlier than usual, county administrators proposed $12 million in cuts from current spending to balance the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Supervisors expressed dismay with the plan, which set aside only $8 million in the general fund to maintain $22.5 million in current programs and fund $11.8 million in additions requested by county department heads.

“The numbers are negative, not positive,” Board Chairman David Rabbitt said.

Supervisor Shirlee Zane, commenting on her 11th budget, said she hadn’t seen anything like it since the recession in 2009.

“I am going to push back on this,” she said, calling some of the cuts to health and human services “rather draconian.”

“You put a hole in the safety net - guess what? -someone’s going to fall through it,” she said in an interview.

The tentative budget also cuts 136 jobs. Officials declined to say how many are currently filled, asserting that could trigger a requirement to notify employees of potential layoffs.

Niki Berrocal, deputy county administrator for budget and operations, said the county currently has 358 vacancies and is attempting to fill 143 of them.

The county’s revenue picture could improve by June, she said, noting that nearly half of the $12 million shortfall is due to $5.9 million in property tax revenue the county hopes will ultimately be added to the state budget, Berrocal said.

The state had previously granted the money to Sonoma County to make up for property tax losses related to destruction from the 2017 wildfires.

The other half of the shortfall is due to inflation and the prospect of pay raises for county employees who are now in contract negotiations, administrative analyst Peter Bruland said.

Employees need raises to avoid falling onto the safety net, Zane said.

The county’s general fund, the main source of spending on roads and public safety, among other areas, covers $468 million, or about one-fourth of total expenditures. Supervisors have discretion over about $300 million in general fund spending.

Sonoma Water, with a $253 million preliminary budget, has its own income stream, largely derived from the sale of Russian River water to 600,000 residents in Sonoma and Marin counties.

“You have more money than God,” Supervisor Susan Gorin told water agency chief Grant Davis.

Sonoma County Regional Parks, with a proposed $39 million budget, benefited from an estimated $7.6 million in revenue from a tax measure approved by voters last year. Parks Director Bert Whitaker said parts of it would be spent on providing more access to the Russian River north of Healdsburg and protecting resources with prescribed burning and grazing sheep.

“Appreciate everything you do,” Supervisor James Gore said. “You worked your asses off” winning approval of the tax.

A second budget workshop will be held Wednesday, with the formal budget hearings set for June.