Stanislaus County approves $1.81 billion budget. Leaders keeping an eye on state deficit
Stanislaus County leaders gave approval Tuesday to a $1.81 billion proposed budget that represents a 5.1% increase and dips into General Fund reserves to balance spending.
County Chief Executive Officer Jody Hayes said he’s watching what happens daily with the state budget deficit in case the county needs to make adjustments.
The county is coming off several years of growth opportunity in county departments, but this time the spending plan is more cautious. It suspends an effort to achieve a 5% reduction in staff vacancies in some county departments.
The proposed budget does add 19 employee positions, bringing the total to 4,918 allocated positions.
Supervisor Terry Withrow said at Tuesday’s board meeting that the county will take about $60 million in General Fund balance to even out the budget.
The county is using long-range modeling to identify fiscal concerns over the next five years. If the county were to spend 93% of its annual General Fund budget, that would significantly draw down reserves by 2029.
County staff said about $10.3 million in additional department spending items were not recommended for the 2024-25 budget.
The county is projecting $307.6 million in discretionary revenue, which is money spent on services at the board’s discretion, an $8.7 million increase. Property tax revenue is projected at 4.3% growth, along with modest gains in sales tax.
County departments will add 31 staff positions, including 17 in Behavioral Health and Recovery Services and seven in Probation, while cutting a dozen positions for a net increase of 19. Child Support Services will lose five positions.
About 15.8% of positions in the county workforce are vacant, which is down from a high of 16.9% in July 2022.
Despite the state’s budget challenges, the county is moving ahead with $460 million in road and bridge construction in the next four years, including the North County Corridor, the Seventh Street Bridge in Modesto and other projects, Public Works Director Dave Leamon said. The funding comes from federal, state and local sources.
Work is nearly completed on the Crows Landing Road bridge over the San Joaquin River, widening the bridge from two to three lanes. The county also plans investments in basic infrastructure for the Crows Landing Industrial Business Park.
