Job cuts considered as Yolo County supervisors confront $35M budget shortfall
County jobs are at risk as Yolo County supervisors race to close a budget gap ahead of the next fiscal year.
Months earlier, the Board of Supervisors had directed county agencies to identify savings. Supervisors reviewed the results Tuesday, when departments identified more than 100 positions for elimination and millions of dollars in contracts and expenses they said they could forgo.
The latest estimate projects a $35 million budget shortfall for the 2026-27 fiscal year.
In January, supervisors directed department heads to find $15 million in general fund reductions. County officials presented a plan Tuesday identifying about $13.7 million in savings, largely by eliminating vacant positions.
“We’ve been looking at some of these numbers, and they’re just heartbreaking,” Supervisor Sheila Allen said during the meeting. “Because they’re not only real needed services, but they’re also real people.”
The supervisors will continue discussing their budget plan at its May 5 meeting. The county must release a recommended budget by June 2 and adopt it by June 9, with final approval set for September.
The board must decide whether the $13.7 million in savings is sufficient, whether to require an additional $1.3 million in cuts by June, or allow staff until September to reach the $15 million goal, a move that would rely more heavily on county reserves.
The county’s budget shortfall was exacerbated by changes to federal funding for health and human services, according to a county staff report. During the last budget process, the county anticipated an even larger budget gap.
Since January, “a tremendous amount of work has been completed and performed on the budget development process,” county CFO Tom Haynes said during the budget presentation. That work was not confined to the county’s Department of Financial Services, he said. “Every department across the board has really made a good faith effort to meet their reduction target.”
County agencies identified 51 general fund positions that were vacant or soon to be vacated. Eliminating those positions was expected to save the county nearly $10 million.
Departments also proposed eliminating 10 filled general fund positions, including a part-time library assistant, two assessor/clerk-recorder assistants, an administrative services analyst, a senior administrative services analyst, two permit technicians, a vital statistics technician and two office support specialists. The county estimated those cuts would save just over $1 million.
Other general fund reductions include eliminating more than $945,000 in county contracts, about $850,000 in extra help budgets, roughly $660,000 in salary allocations, about $635,000 in revenue enhancements and about $575,000 in service and supply costs. Those reductions will save the county another $3.6 million.
The county also reviewed non-general fund reductions. The Health and Human Services Agency identified 32 vacant or soon-to-be vacant positions, saving more than $4.3 million, and proposed eliminating 26 filled positions, saving more than $3 million.
Additional non-general fund cuts included more than $1.5 million in contracts, over $1 million in salary adjustments, more than $426,000 in reduced overtime and roughly $375,000 in other savings, totaling about $3.4 million.
The proposed job cuts totaled 119 positions and about $18.3 million in savings, with other reductions adding roughly $7 million.
The county also incorporated an additional $1 million into their anticipated costs to cover the legal defenses of two defendants indicted in connection to the deadly July 1 fireworks explosion in Esparto. The funding comes on top of an added $1.7 million already budgeted to support the investigation and prosecutions.
County leaders acknowledged that the identified savings are remarkable, even if they’re not quite enough to balance the budget.
Officials aimed to restore fiscal stability within three years, allowing some flexibility in meeting the $15 million target, Supervisor Angel Barajas said. But, Barajas noted, “if it’s not 15 this year, it might be a larger number next year.”
