To: Board of Supervisors/Directors/Commissioners
Department or Agency Name(s): County Administrator
Staff Name and Phone Number: Peter Bruland, 707-565-2431
Vote Requirement: Informational Only
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Fiscal Year 2023-24 Budget Workshops
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Receive the FY 2023-24 Department Budget Presentations
end
Executive Summary:
Each year the County holds budget workshops in April. The purpose of these workshops is to provide the Board and the public with information about the Preliminary Budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and to offer an opportunity for deeper understanding of the county’s programs/services that assist the Board before deliberation and adoption of the next fiscal year’s budget at the conclusion of the June formal budget hearings. Budget decisions for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 will be not be made at this workshop.
The FY 2023-24 Preliminary Budget includes $2.1 billion in operating expenditures funded by $1.9 billion in revenues and $177 million in use of available balances within special and/or specifically established funds. Each department/agency will present an overview of their FY 2023-24 Preliminary Budget. After staff review, the FY 2023-24 Recommended Budget will be available online on May 15, 2023. The FY 2023-24 Budget Hearings will be held beginning on June 13. At the June Budget Hearings the Board will deliberate on adjustments to the Recommended Budget, and will officially adopt the Budget for FY 2023-24. As directed during the FY2022-23 budget hearings, this year’s workshops will also include a baseline review of the County’s infrastructure managed assets.
Discussion:
Each year California counties are required to adopt balanced budgets for the fiscal year, which runs from July 1 through June 30. While budgets may be adopted up to 90 days following the start of a fiscal year, Sonoma County endeavors to adopt a budget in June, prior to the beginning of the new fiscal year. In order to ensure that the Board has the information they need to deliberate on and adopt a budget, the County has held spring budget workshops in which each department presents their budgets in advance of budget hearings since 2018.
Generally, these workshops are held in April, with Budget Hearings and adoption occurring in June. The budgets included here are referred to as the “Preliminary Budget”.
Budget Overview
The FY 2023-24 Preliminary Budget includes $2.1 billion in expenditures which is a 3.7% decrease from the FY 2022-23 Adopted budget. The decrease is primarily due to one-time funds that were programmed in FY2022-23 that will not be continued in FY2023-24.
Individual presentations, attached to this item, cover the Preliminary Budgets for each operational department/agency.
Infrastructure Report
During the FY2022-23 Budget Hearings, your Board expressed an interest in understanding how the County plans and finances major repairs and replacement of existing infrastructure assets. To address the Board’s interest, staff prepared an Infrastructure Report (Report) and workshop content intended to provide baseline information.
The Report (available as Attachment D) contains a high-level overview of programs that have plans and funding mechanisms that adequately address deferred maintenance, replacement, and new capital projects involving built infrastructure. The Report is intended to meet the Board’s interest in gaining visibility into how projects are prioritized and financed.
Recommended Actions
There are no formal budget actions associated with this item; the Board will adopt the Budget, including the Recommended Budget with any modifications based on Add-Backs, Program Change Requests, Board Budget Requests, or other Budget Hearing Actions at the conclusion of the June Budget Hearings.
Strategic Plan:
This item directly supports the County’s Five-year Strategic Plan and is aligned with the following pillar, goal, and objective.
Pillar: Organizational Excellence
Goal: Goal 2: Increase information sharing and transparency and improve County and community engagement
Objective: Objective 3: Ensure County budget process and information are understandable, accessible, and in a format that enables the public to identify County investments and funding for major initiatives and services.
Prior Board Actions:
June 14, 2022 - Adopted of the FY2022-23 Recommended Budget
Fiscal Summary
Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
There is no direct fiscal impact related to this item. The Board will make final determinations and adopt the FY 2023-24 Budget during the June Budget Hearings.
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None
Attachments:
Attachment A - Budget Workshop Schedule
Attachment B - Board Information Request Form
Attachment C - Preliminary List of Budget Change Requests (Add Backs and Program Change Requests)
Attachment D - Infrastructure Report
Attachment E - FY22-23 Budget Hearing Follow Ups
Attachment F - Overview Presentation
Attachment G - Board Budget Requests
Department Presentations
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
None