Yuba County budget pegged slightly down at $167 million
Yuba County’s budget is close to being finalized for the upcoming fiscal year starting July 1, and while revenues are up from the previous year, officials say increases in the cost of doing business will offset any gains.
“We will have a balanced budget for supervisors to review by the meeting scheduled for June 27,” County Administrator Robert Bendorf said. “For the most part, the upcoming budget will be status quo compared to the previous year.”
The county’s proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year is approximately $167 million. Though that number is down from last year’s budget of approximately $174 million, Bendorf said it is basically the same, considering the changes that have occurred in “accounting methodology.”
“I’d say we are still faced with similar challenges when it comes to expenditures, specifically the cost of doing business – as in new methodologies to pensions and health care, as well as changes to CalPERS,” Bendorf said.
The county’s expenditures are expected to decrease next year, primarily due to the completion of the new $20 million sheriff’s facility in Marysville. However, the county does expect to spend a similar amount on starting two new projects: a Tri-County Juvenile Hall and an expansion to the current jail.
Bendorf said the county’s proposed budget will most likely go before the board at its June 27 meeting. Even if supervisors approve the budget later this month, they will take up the issue again in September to make a final approval, Bendorf said.
For the upcoming fiscal year, the county will have $28.5 million in its general fund – discretionary revenues.
While that number doesn’t top pre-recession levels – $34 million in the general fund in 2006 – Bendorf said the gap has slowly been closing.
“Our property tax and assessed values are close to our pre-recession values. Sales tax has increased marginally, though the increase isn’t where we were before the recession. So we haven’t caught completely up yet because we are confronted with the rise in cost of doing business, but it is building back up,” Bendorf said.
Generated revenue that feeds into the general fund comes from property and sales taxes, as well as fines and fees. The county is expected to see an increase in revenues of approximately $1,270,689 to its general fund from the previous fiscal year.
The rest of the county’s budget – approximately $138.5 million – comes from federal and state sources, grants and through contracts, Bendorf said.
Bendorf said the county has also built up its general fund reserves – $2.1 million – which helped the county achieve an A credit rating. He said the county plans on maintaining its good credit rating in the upcoming fiscal year.
Of the discretionary funds the county has budgeted for next year – approximately $28.5 million – about 72 percent is used for public safety services. Public safety services include the sheriff’s office, the jail, juvenile hall, probation, the district attorney’s office, the agricultural commissioner’s office, code enforcement, public defenders, the courts and child support services.
The next biggest expenditure – 22 percent of the general fund – goes to “general government,” which includes things like the board of supervisors, human resources, the county library, county assessor and information technology, among other things.
The rest of the general fund is distributed through health services, land use and social services, as well as non-departmental uses like contingencies, reserves and debt service.
Bendorf said the county doesn’t expect any drastic cuts in payroll. Besides cutting six positions in its Adult Services Division in May due to what officials said were rising costs associated with administering certain programs, Bendorf said the county will be adding some positions, primarily in its public works department.
“It’s more of a restoration of positions that were previously cut with the decrease in gas tax funding that came about 2-3 years ago. We are getting prepared to repair some roads,” Bendorf said.
Aside from the Tri-County Juvenile Hall – expected to begin either this fall or next spring – and the jail expansion project, the county has several road improvement projects slated to begin and end in the upcoming fiscal year.
Bendorf said some of the most notable include a $4.5 million improvement project on North Beale Road – which has already been started and is expected to be completed in the next fiscal year – and overlay projects on Feather River Boulevard, Mathews Lane and Ramirez Road.