Public hearings on 2025-2026 Sonoma County budget to begin June 10

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The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will hold its annual budget hearings on Tuesday, June 10 at 9 a.m. Public comment is welcome at the opening of the hearings, which may continue June 11 and 13 if needed. At the conclusion, the board will adopt a spending plan for the 2025-2026 fiscal year beginning July 1.

The recommended budget totals $2.71 billion, a 7.9 percent increase from the 2024-2025 adopted budget. More than half of the increase reflects funding from two new voter-approved sales taxes that are collected by the County and passed through to other entities to support fire and emergency services (Measure H) and health services for children and child care (Measure I). Absent those two tax measures, the recommended budget would increase County spending by 3.8 percent.

Overall, the recommended budget includes $459 million in discretionary General Fund revenue and $2.26 billion in other sources. It would decrease the size of the County’s workforce by 21 full-time employees, primarily through non-renewal of short-term positions that expire at the end of June, for a total of 4,480 employees.

“There is a great deal of uncertainty in next year’s budget,” said Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “Nearly 40 percent of the County’s funding comes from the federal and state government. Frankly, there are many unanswered questions about what will happen to that funding in the coming year, and how our local government programs might be impacted by changes in federal policies and the projected $12 billion shortfall in the state’s budget. We want the public to share their priorities with us as we focus on maintaining core services during a challenging year.”

The recommended budget does not include cuts to federal or state programs now under consideration by Congress and the state Legislature. If federal or state funding is reduced later this year, the Board of Supervisors may need to adjust County spending to maintain a balanced budget.

During the budget hearings, the Board of Supervisors will consider the Recommended Budget and the Supplemental Budget Adjustment Package, which represents administrative budgetary changes, as well as add-back requests, program change requests, board budget requests, and funding recommendations presented by the County Executive’s Office. Add-back and program change requests are prioritized by the County Executive’s Office to align with the Board’s strategic priorities. Due to significant uncertainty over federal and state funding, the County Executive is recommending the Board adopt a baseline budget that maintains key county services while not committing estimated balances to new items. This approach will allow maximum flexibility to strategically address changes at the federal and state levels.

The hearings will include budgets for special districts overseen by the Board of Supervisors as their Board of Directors, such as Sonoma Water and the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District. The full schedule and links to view the hearings on Zoom are available here. Public comment may only be made in person during the hearings, which will take place in the Board of Supervisors’ chambers at 575 Administration Drive in Santa Rosa.

Budget hearing materials, including the Recommended Budget book, are available online at the County Administrator’s Office website.

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Media Contact: 
Ted Appel, Communications Specialist 
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org 
(707) 565-3040 
575 Administration Drive, Suite 104A 
Santa Rosa, CA 95403