Santa Barbara County's Board of Supervisors adopted its recommended budget of $1.1 billion for the 2018-19 fiscal year on June 11, a 2.5 percent increase from last year's iteration.
"The board adopted a balanced budget with no layoffs, few service reductions, replenishment of reserves, and increased maintenance funding, while continuing a commitment to long-standing priorities like the Northern Branch Jail and fire district funding," County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato stated, adding the supervisors were also able to allocate more funding to libraries, public safety needs, and environmental initiatives.
"This budget represents [resilience] and renewal," she said, "with our recovery efforts, we are developing a resilient organization to withstand future disasters."
Miyasato noted the county was entering the second year of "Renew '22," an initiative to build a more "vibrant, agile, and financially sustainable organization to serve the board and our communities' highest priorities."
The budget passed 4-1, with 2nd District Supervisor Janet Wolf dissenting. She said she voted against the document largely due to the budget allocating revenues from taxes on cannabis that haven't even been collected yet. On June 5, voters passed Measure T, which taxes the industry on gross receipts at all levels, at a clip of 75 percent.
Wolf explained she believed there was too much uncertainty surrounding the potential revenues and that it was irresponsible to begin spending money the county didn't have.
"There's so much money in this chart we haven't even touched, and yet we're moving forward with money we don't even know if we got," she said.
Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam, who typically is in Wolf's position as the "no" vote, said his approval of the budget was a difficult decision.
"It's hard to not vote 'no' on a budget," he added. "Intellectually, I just have to vote for this. There's been too much movement in my direction."
Adam was referring to some rather large items for North County residents that received funding. Those included the new Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria and the Union Valley Parkway extension, which was previously unfunded, as well as a provision for extra funds toward deferred maintenance in the area to help repair long neglected roads, bridges, and "other infrastructure."
The Guadalupe, Cuyama, Los Alamos, and Solvang libraries were other North County entities that benefited from this year's budget.
The Union Valley project will receive $155,800 in one-time revenues while the supervisors allocated just a little more than $1 million (again in one-time funds) for the deferred maintenance project.
In the adopted budget, staffing levels increased by 84.9 budgeted full-time equivalent positions, primarily reflecting additional staff for the Northern Branch Jail.
Other key funding items were resources for recovery from the Thomas Fire and Montecito Debris Flow disasters; enhanced public safety services such as dispatch and jail operations; and implementing a cannabis regulatory program and enforcement effort.
Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann commended county staff and fellow supervisors on a successful budgeting process that took just one day, compared to a three-day session like in years past.
"It's a very conservative budget and I think that's the way to go," she said. "We've experienced a huge disaster, and we are trying to position ourselves on the ramifications in the future."
To review the FY 2018-19 Adopted Balanced Budget documents, go to countyofsb.org/ceo/2018.sbc.
