What's at stake?
The Fresno County Board Of Supervisors approved a preliminary budget on Tuesday. The move is procedural, as more formal, budget hearings will take place in September.
Still, Tuesday’s meeting continued to highlight the hurdle the county will face for years to come following the approval of Trump’s Big beautiful Bill policy, that leaves the county with a projected $300 million deficit
The county’s budget officers committed to bring a balanced budget before the Fresno County Board of Supervisors in September, closing a near $300 million deficit brought on by the Trump administration’s “Big Beautiful Bill” last year.
But the tenor of the conversation surrounding the budget at Tuesday’s board meeting made clear that this task won’t be easy.
The Fresno County Board Of Supervisors approved a preliminary budget on Tuesday, funding the county’s day-to-day operations until the final policy plan is adopted later this year.
Fresno County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland said he’d present a full, balanced budget in September. Though nothing is official yet, he said departments are looking at a 5% cut to expenses, one of multiple cost-cutting measures his office may have to take to get there.
“More difficult choices remain, though, to close our budget shortfall,” Nerland said. “For that reason, I asked departments to look at how to be more efficient at what we do.”
Tuesday’s move by the board is procedural. Since the 2018-2019 fiscal year, the county has approved their final budget for the upcoming fiscal year in September.
To fund the county between September and the start of the fiscal year in July, the county approves a budget in June to fund day-to-day operations until then.
The process, the county says, allows for the Hall of Records to work with a financial outlook that takes into account aspects like the finalized state budget and a more accurate tally of property tax revenues — which represents about 80% of the county’s total revenue. Those don’t get finished until after the fiscal year ends in June.
Many counties across the country are grappling with how to cope with the federal budget.
A coalition of California counties — including Fresno — lobbied Gov. Gavin Newsom ahead of his May Revised Budget. The counties requested $1.9 billion in funding from the state to help offset the deficit brought on by cuts to funding approved by the Trump administration last year.
The May Revise only provides $87 million, according to Paige Benavides, a Fresno County budget officer.
“I think they found out they have no pull with the governor, I don’t know if anybody does,” Supervisor Buddy Mendes said at the Tuesday meeting. “Hopefully their pull is with the Legislature…because this is going to be very devastating for counties.”
Though the counties may not have gotten everything they wanted from Newsom, the state legislature has been advancing reconciliation legislation that has given the counties reason to believe in a brighter outlook.
Among their plans to help the counties, Fresno leaders said, is the establishment of an “emergency-only fund” of about $250 million for two years for indigent care.
But Nerland made clear that this policy, along with some of the other plans the Legislature wants to pass, might still not be enough to help Fresno.
“To put that into perspective,” Nerland said, “The county’s obligations for the indigent care program are estimated to range between $40 and $240 million. Just in Fresno County…The state putting aside $250 million for the whole state over two years is a start, but it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the costs that we will face.”
County budget hearings begin the week of Sept. 14. They’ll follow a relatively new system that started last year, where a handful of departments will present their budget to the public before approval.
“I think everyone is going to have to take a haircut, so to speak,” said Supervisor Luis Chavez.
