Public hearings on 2024-25 Sonoma County budget to begin Tuesday

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will hold annual budget hearings beginning Tuesday, June 11 at 8:30 a.m. The hearings will be streamed live with an opportunity for the public to provide input each day regarding the recommended 2024-2025 fiscal year operating plan. At the conclusion of the budget hearings, the board will adopt a final budget to serve as the strategic operating plan for the fiscal year beginning on July 1.

The recommended budget includes $2.46 billion in total expenditures, a 10 percent increase from the 2022-23 adopted budget, including $430 million in General Fund revenue and $2.03 billion in other sources. The recommended budget decreases the number of County positions by 14.5 full-time employees, primarily through non-renewal of short-term positions that expire at the end of June, for a total of 4,459 employees. Most of the reductions are a result of scheduled labor cost adjustments in line with the negotiated agreements.

Because Sonoma County is a political subdivision of the state and provides services for federal agencies, it receives the largest share of its funding from state and federal governments to run programs and deliver public services. State and federal funding represents more than 40 percent of the annual budget.

Tax revenue, which makes up the largest share of the discretionary General Fund, has slowed following the immediate post-Covid period. Property tax makes up almost 90 percent of General Fund tax revenue and more than two-thirds of all tax revenue received by the County. Property tax growth is heavily dependent on property sales, as growth is otherwise capped at two percent under the state constitution. With the rise in interest rates, property sales have significantly decreased, resulting in a 35 percent reduction in documentary transfer tax revenue between FY 2021-22 and FY 2022-23, which indicates that future property tax growth will also slow.

During the budget hearings, the Board of Supervisors will consider 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 Administrator’s Office. Add-back and program change requests are prioritized by the County Administrator’s Office to align with the Board’s strategic priorities. The Board of Supervisors will consider and prioritize these additional budget requests against any available ongoing or one-time fiscal resources. 

The public comment period will begin at 8:35 a.m. on June 11 and at 9:05 a.m. on June 12 and June 14. Public comment may only be made in person during the meetings in the Board chambers. The budget hearings include budgets for special districts for which the Board of Supervisors acts as the Board of Directors, such as Sonoma Water and the Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.

Budget hearing materials, including the Recommended Budget book, are available on the county website. 

Budget hearings are available for public viewing here.

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Media Contact:
Dan Virkstis, communications specialist
publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org 
(707) 565-3040