San Diego County unveiled its long-awaited proposed budget for the year on Thursday, a massive document that avoids the drama afflicting the biggest city government and school district within its jurisdiction.
The $8.5 billion spending plan is hundreds of millions of dollars higher than the current-year budget, a 3.9 percent increase, and includes none of the likely cuts confronting the San Diego City Council or the San Diego Unified School District.
The 2024-25 blueprint not only adds more than $300 million to the existing budget, it also boosts the county workforce by 72 positions, to more than 20,400 full-time personnel.
Officials said the draft budget addresses the priorities of a Board of Supervisors that is committed to serving all of the nearly 3.3 million people who make San Diego County their home.
“The budget reflects the county’s values: integrity, equity, access, belonging, excellence and sustainability,” the budget announcement said. “It maintains current services and funds new ones, using data and community input gathered throughout the year and considering equity for vulnerable populations.”
Almost every department and office was spared from cuts, with most adding either a handful of positions or a few more dollars than the budget that expires on June 30.
If approved by the Board of Supervisors after a series of public hearings and workshops scheduled throughout the month, the budget will go into effect July 1 and determine most public spending through June 2025.
The upbeat financial prognosis is a sharp contrast to the city of San Diego and San Diego Unified, which are both experiencing major deficits that have resulted in proposed service cuts and, in the school district’s case, hundreds of jobs cut.
It also reflects a departure from the frugal years of the 1990s through the mid-2010s, when conservative Republicans dominated the five-member board and resisted public investments in social services and other progressive programs.
Haney Hong, president and chief executive of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, said he was worried that county officials have all but abandoned the savings-first mentality that was practiced for many years.
“The county got itself out of near-bankruptcy a generation ago through consistent fiscal discipline,” he said. “I’m concerned that if there aren’t ongoing and stable revenues to these new jobs, the county will only push itself to where it was a generation ago.”
As always, the best-funded office is the county Health and Human Services Agency, the sprawling bureaucracy responsible for everything from public health and child welfare to mental health and homelessness services.
The new public health budget allocates $3.4 billion across a medley of departments and services delivered by a staff of approximately 8,240.
Those numbers represent an increase of $260 million and 10 positions over the current year. The agency’s budget now s for about 40.5 percent of all county spending, up from 39.2 percent this year.
More than half of the additional health spending is earmarked for behavioral health, which increases by 13 percent, or some $135 million, for a total of $1.16 billion.
Housing and community development services spending would decline by almost $9 million in the proposed budget, to just under $91 million. But those losses may be offset by an increase in spending on the homeless solutions and equitable communities office, which rises 20 percent to $99 million.
Combined, the investment in those two departments increases from about $181 million to $190 million.
The Public Safety Group is the other county agency that s for a huge share of spending, with the Sheriff’s Department absorbing just under half the $2.7 billion set aside for maintaining law and order.
Even though the public-safety budget is some $55 million higher than last year, the draft plan lowers the group’s percentage of overall county spending from 39.9 percent to 39.2 percent.
Sheriff Kelly Martinez will oversee $1.3 billion in spending, an increase of just over $65 million. But the number of full-time sheriff’s employees would dip by 1 percent, or about 46 positions, to 4,702 budgeted positions.
The Sheriff’s Department continues to confront a crisis in jail deaths, with four people having died in sheriff’s custody so far this year and previous jail deaths continuing to cost millions of dollars in jury awards and legal settlements.
Martinez also has proposed a nearly $500 million investment in county jails over the coming decade, with the first chunk of that designated for upgrades to the Vista Detention Facility.
Another big winner in the proposed budget is the county Probation Department, which is due to see its spending climb by more than $40 million. Probation would see 47 new positions and a 2024-25 budget exceeding $320 million.
The District Attorney’s Office is one of the few high-profile county departments that would see a decline in its spending.
District Attorney Summer Stephan adds two full-time positions to her staff, but her overall budget would fall from $295 million to $266 million in the year that begins July 1. Most of those cuts are due to a drop in criminal-prosecution spending, which is down by about $30 million.
But county officials have designated billions of dollars for core government services, including $812 million for general relief and other so-called self-sufficiency programs; $480 million for public works and road improvements; $200 million for in-home ive services; $75 million for parks and recreation; and $67 million for county libraries.
The budget also sets aside millions of dollars for special projects and capital improvements throughout the fiscal year.
Among other things, the 640-page spending road map designates $2.5 million to help upgrade the Mira Mesa Epicentre, the long-dormant and oft-vandalized community facility that officials hope to convert into a youth center.
It also includes approximately $25 million for environmental and watershed projects, new trees, climate change and other sustainability-driven efforts.
“The budget is fiscally prudent while continuing to build upon the solid foundation we have laid over the last three years of investing in vital services to help the homeless, increase access to mental health and addiction treatment, and build more affordable housing for working families,” Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer said in a statement.
“I need to give the budget a closer look, talk with the community and see what changes it might require,” the District 3 representative added. “But I am pleased with the investments we’re making in the communities I represent and countywide.”
County officials have already scheduled a series of presentations, workshops and hearings aimed at collecting public input on the proposed budget. They are scheduled throughout the month, beginning May 14.
The public also is invited to submit comments on the draft spending plan to the county website or email suggestions or other to county officials.
San Diego County may be in a more favorable financial position than other local government agencies because of the variety of sources it relies on for annual funding.
The biggest source of revenue comes from the state, which s for just over 30 percent of county income, or $2.6 billion this coming year — up slightly from the just under $2.5 billion the county got from the state this year. More than 21 percent of the revenue comes from local property taxes.
The federal government and fees for services each for about 16 percent of county revenue. The rest of the income is derived by intergovernmental transfers and miscellaneous sources.
The $8.5 billion proposed budget comes as San Diego County continues to hunt for a permanent chief istrative officer.
Former CAO Helen Robbins-Meyer retired earlier this year, having delayed her departure last year after Supervisor Nathan Fletcher’s resignation restarted the search for her successor.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet today to interview leading candidates before final interviews later this month.
Officials expect to name a new CAO late next month.
