LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors will hold its annual budget hearings this week to consider the $292 million final recommended budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year.
The hearings are scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, and will continue on Thursday, Sept. 17, if necessary.
The supervisors will meet in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County Courthouse, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport, for a hybrid meeting format which also will include the opportunity for community members to continue to participate virtually.
The meeting can be watched live on Channel 8, online at https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and on the county’s Facebook page. Accompanying board documents, the agenda and archived board meeting videos also are available at that link.
To participate in real-time, join the Zoom meeting Sept. 16 by clicking this link at 9 a.m. The meeting ID is 932 2053 1970, password 301945.
For the Sept. 17 meeting, join by clicking this link. The meeting ID is 921 6335 9913, password 258258.
To submit a written comment on any agenda item please visit https://countyoflake.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx and click on the eComment feature linked to the meeting date. If a comment is submitted after the meeting begins, it may not be read during
the meeting but will become a part of the record.
In her memo to the board, County Administrative Officer Carol Huchingson reported that the final recommended budget for the new fiscal year totals approximately $292,261,503, which represents an increase of $34,012,659 when compared to the Fiscal year 2019-20 Adopted Budget amount of $258,248,844.
“In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, this recent cycle of budget preparation has been quite unusual,” Huchingson wrote.
Huchingson said that in late March the board approved staff’s recommendation to make changes to the scheduled budget hearings for this fiscal year cycle and to flip the extended budget hearing process – during which the board receives detailed presentations from county department heads – from the recommended budget to the final recommended budget.
While staff previously had informed the board of potential impacts from the COVID-19 crisis, Huchingson said the county has begun to receive federal CARES Act funding and state realignment backfill, which is helping alleviate some of the financial pressure.
Huchingson said that at the time of the recommended budget discussions in June, the board contemplated 10-percent cuts to county departments in anticipation of negative financial impacts resulting from the pandemic.
“Absent CARES Act and Realignment Backfill, the County would be facing dire financial circumstances with likely reductions to staffing and services the public relies upon,” said Huchingson.
Out of an abundance of caution, Huchingson said general fund departments have been held to the same net county cost in Fiscal Year 2020-21 as they received in FY 2019-20.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Supervisors to consider $292 million budget for new fiscal year; hearings begin Sept. 16
- Elizabeth Larson
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