The community has an opportunity to provide more input on the County of San Luis Obispo’s fiscal year 2016-17 proposed budget in June.
The County will host public budget hearings June 13 through June 15 at the Board of Supervisors Chambers in the County Government Center, 1055 Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo. The hearings are an opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed budget and the Board of Supervisors to make revisions.
“Budget hearings are a great opportunity for the public to see, first-hand, how the County is spending taxpayer dollars,” County Administrative Officer Dan Buckshi said. “The proposed budget is the culmination of many months of work by employees across the County and reflects the Board of Supervisor’s priorities and stated budget goals and policies.”
The County’s budget document includes a comprehensive spending plan guided by input from County departments, elected officials, stakeholders and the community. Comparable to recent years, the FY 2016-17 proposed budget aims to balance three spending areas: financial security, programs and services, and employee salaries and benefits. The County Administrative Office is recommending a total spending level of $574 million, with $487.2 million distributed to the General Fund budget. The total budget is an increase of less than 1 percent over the current year.
The budget takes many factors into consideration, including the drought and the decline in state revenues that fund local transportation projects. New Federal and State legislation also impacts the budget, including Laura’s Law to allow for court-ordered outpatient mental health treatment, and the Continuum of Care Reform to improve foster care outcomes.
The County’s budget has been nationally recognized for five consecutive years for meeting the highest principles in governmental budgeting. Earlier this year, the County once again earned the Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for its FY 2015-16 budget. For three consecutive years, the County has also been recognized by Fitch Ratings with the highest possible ratings for its financial performance, specifically relating to bonds.
The new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2016 and the proposed budget can be found at www.slocounty.ca.gov, where all Board of Supervisors meetings are streamed live via video feed.