Budget Hearing | 9.23.2025

by | Oct 10, 2025 | Get Involved, Stay Informed, Your Opinion Matters

Sharing Information  |  Encouraging Engagement

This meeting was dedicated as a Budget Hearing for the 2025/2026 fiscal year. No other county business was conducted. The recommended budget reflects the results of weeks of discussions, analysis, and compromise. The proposed $150,910,034 budget is approximately $2 million less than what was originally requested by department heads.

A. COUNTY MATTERS

A.1. County Administrative Office – Conduct budget hearings to consider the recommended budget for fiscal year 25/26. Recommended expenditures, including contingency, total $150,910,034. 

County Achievement Highlights

  • CAO Trent Tuthill shared highlights/key accomplishments of staff
  • 5 year County Strategic Plan progress – 29% complete after 20 months
  • General Plan – once in 30 year accomplishment/effort, Housing Element BOS and HCD approved
  • Merged Behavioral Health/Substance Use Disorder Services into Health & Human Services Agency – this partnership has proven to be a positive endeavor, maximizing resources to address customer needs
  • Launched Ready Trinity.org – centralized emergency alerts and preparedness in one site
    Jail Health – increased medical providers by 50%, updated health delivery system, secured PATH-JI grant funding in the amount of $3.5M, bolstered other revenue sources through time-studying, and no staff positions lost
    Reestablished the Employment and Training Work-Crew program to develop work-ready skills and to support General Services
  • Onboarded a new Health Services Program Manager and Health Officer bringing new vision to Public Health
  • Mobile Crisis Response Team has dispatched and dispositioned 32 responses within the county
  • Public Assistance programs have provided supplemental support to 8,716 individuals
  • Office of Emergency Services, through the support of Resource Conservation District, updated and completed the county Hazard Mitigation Plan
  • Revived our Wellness Center, a drop-in support center, at Cedar Home
  • $6.2M Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP) grant – new facility within ~12 months
  • Awarded $2.5M PATH JI grant funds (in addition to Jail Health) for the implementation of reentry services for justice involved youth
  • Probation Department recognized as an Enhanced Case Manager by Partnership Health – allows reimbursement for some services provided
  • Probation Department utilizing Effective Practices in Community Supervision (EPICS), a tool that builds upon the Risk Needs Responsivity model employed to target criminogenic needs and reduce recidivism
  • Migrated all County email users to Microsoft 365 Exchange Online, improving security and reliability
  • Implemented centralized logging and a new intrusion detection system (24/7 SOC monitoring) to strengthen cybersecurity and compliance
  • Enhanced automation and remote management of County computers, improving support and reducing staff workload
  • Ensured County’s Leave of Absence, Interactive Process, and Return-to-Work programs fully compliant with County Code/Policy
  • Enhanced County’s recruitment process by fully transitioning to an electronic system – from initial requisition request through final hire
  • Conducted comprehensive audits and reconciliations of our benefits programs, resulting in the identification and recovery of overpayments
  • Received a 98.92% on the Trindel Safety/Compliance Annual Audit
  • Increased total active CEQA compliant cannabis licenses by 15% (from ~285 to ~330)
    Successfully applied for and received an additional round of state GO-Biz Equity Grant funds ($500k). Total Equity Grant funds $2.3M in two rounds.
  • Disbursed $1.65M to date to eligible equity program participants based upon state approved guidelines
  • Environmental Health staff (2 hazmat techs certified, 2 underground storage tank inspectors certified, 2 CUPA and 5 Tobacco trained) 105 Environmental cases documented, citing hundreds of code violations
  • Responsible for 7 new regulatory programs (6 CUPA and Tobacco) aimed towards a safer and healthier Trinity County
  • Electronic files for well, septic, and new CUPA program – effort to be more transparent, compliant, and more efficient information sharing with public Completed a commodities flow study for Trinity County highways – assessing major transportation of hazardous materials
  • Transferred Smith Pit mine from private to BLM – opened up the area for natural uses
  • Increased county leadership/presence at TRRP (Trinity River resource focus); Flow Workgroup coordinator since June 2024
  • County-led Winter Flow proposal accepted September 2024, subsequently all TMC entities approved winter flow and the project started December 2024
  • Adopted Movable Tiny Home and Ag Exemption building ordinances – created more public options

Priorities & Balance Actions

  • FY 25/26 improved fiscal position – Outlined in Budget Book Executive Summary
    • The deficit spending trend changed
    • Strategic Plan Lines of Effort focus
    • One-time bandage fixes stopped
    • Last FY tough decisions – helped fiscal position
      • Golden Handshake – ~800K in salary “savings”
    • Balanced budget actions
  • FY 25/26 Focus Areas
    • HHSA establishment (HHS and BHS merge March 2025)
    • Justice Involved funding sources (Adult/Youth)
      • Jail Health (Adult) – Multi-department/organizational partnership, time studies
      • Probation (Youth) – Multi-department/organizational partnership
    • Service Level – public safety first (SO, Probation, DA, DoT)
      • Mandated community services
      • Operational county requirements
      • Community interest
    • State/Federal funding sources/programs and any changes to county

Trends

  • Consumer Price Index – cumulative increase since 2019 = 26.2%
  • Insurance Premiums – up almost 130% since 2019
  • Workers Comp Premiums – up over 100% since 2019
    • This is driven more by the increasing cost per claim than the number of claims
  • Utilities – down over the last few years, still up 30% since 2019
  • Fuel – up 60% since 2019
  • Salaries – up 40% since 2019
    • Much of this driven by mandated increases, and “comp and class” adjustments
  • General Fund Salaries – up slightly less than 20% since 2019, down approximately 8% this year
  • PERS UAL – up significantly since 2019

Potential Revenue Generation

  • Staff efforts have generated a significant increase in revenue
  • TOT increase
  • Sales Tax Increase
  • Tourism Investment District

Overview

  • Balanced Budget
  • Better than last fiscal year, but still not able to provide the desired level of service
  • Continued focus on 5-year County Strategic Plan & Priorities
  • Any discretionary funding adjustments are “one-for-one”

Craig Goodman – Financial Consultant

  • Total Budget – $150,910,034
  • 4.4% increase from last fiscal year
  • 32.9% of Total Budget is Salaries & Benefits
  • Major Expenditure Categories
    • Public Protection – 20.01%
    • Public Assistance – 20.92%
    • Public Ways and Facilities – 19.71%
    • Health & Sanitation – 21.73%

Budget Review

  • $13.4 Million for Road and Airport Projects
  • $34.5 Million for Transfers within County Funds
  • $49.7 Million for Salaries and Benefits
    • $11.4 Million General Fund (39.2% of General Fund Budget)
    • $38.3 Million Non-General Fund (31.4% of Non-General Fund Budget)
  • Fiscal Year 2025-2026 continues to budget to fund 100% of ADC
    • Unfunded OPEB Liability as of June 30, 2024 – $38,329,915
    • PARS trust balance as of:
      • June 30, 2023 – [$17,859,857]
      • June30,2024 – ［$21,516,127］
      • June 30, 2025 ［$26,551,027］
    • OPEB ISF balance as of June 30, 2025 – $4,916,167
  • General Fund Revenue – $27,739,477
    • 49.3% is from Taxes
  • General Fund Revenue (with Sheriff) – $31,254,291
    • This was split out for greater transparency
    • The total budget for the Sheriff’s Department is close to $12 million
    • General Fund Revenues are up substantially this year, in large part, due to staff efforts to identify and obtain additional funding.
    • Discretionary – $16,841,314
    • Non-Discretionary – $14,501,853
    • Fund Balance Cash Carryover – $1,380,855
      • $580,000 held for contingency
  • 63% of Property Tax Revenue goes to Schools.
  • General Fund Expenditures
    • Public Protection – $31.47%
    • General Government – 30.95%
    • Contribution to others – 33.42% ($9.7 million)
      • $9 million of this goes to Public Protection (Jail, Sheriff, Coroner, Animal Control)
  • Debt Service
    • Day Wireless is the last of these to pay off – which will happen in early next year.
    • We paid off the other two that we’ve been carrying on the books for years – this frees those funds up for services, etc.

Departmental Presentations

  • Agriculture
  • Auditor/Controller
  • Child Support – supports Humboldt & Trinity County… with state funds
    • Shared Services Agreement previously approved by the board allowed us to retain $250,000 that would otherwise would have been cut.
    • Pending approval, we will have a manager position located here in Trinity County.
  • Clerk/Recorder/Assessor/Elections
  • Community Development
    • Active recruitment for the department head position – closes early October.
    • Same for Building Department – closes next week.
      • We still have a building inspector – so the permitting process is not held up.
    • Cannabis – will pursue additional Equity Grant funds this year.
    • Natural Resources – this has stabilized.
    • Public Comment
      • Cannabis – noted the increase in budgeted Cannabis Tax Revenue. Suggests bringing in the highest producing operators to meet with an ad hoc committee. Noted delays in processing of new applications (18 with the county, 40+ still in development). Repeated concerns about using these members of staff for code enforcement.
      • Cannabis – suggests moving up Cannabis Ordinance Updates in our schedule so they can be in effect for the upcoming season.
  • Cooperative Extension
    • USDA Funding for CalFresh Nutrition Education program was eliminated.
    • Justin Vehille (sp?) is a new team member – Livestock
    • Camilla Ventanna (sp?) – new hire as Forester
    • Supervisor Cox noted that Larry donates a lot of his time
  • County Administration
    • Consultant to support upcoming election and transition of the leadership role
    • Increase for PARS 115 Trust ($150,000).
    • Business Manager position for centralized procurement function
      • The expectation is that this will create efficiencies in purchasing, etc. through more consistency, coordination, etc.
    • County Counsel costs down from previous years.
    • Library funded for same service level as last year.
    • Veterans Hall project is reflected in the budget – funding came from the State.
    • Grants – funds allocated to clear out negative cash balance from previous CDGB grants.
      • Discussion about the possibility of using the CSAC service for “fractional grant support.”
  • District Attorney
    • One position was eliminated last year. They are carrying forward with the remaining members of staff.
  • Health & Human Services Agency | Liz Hamilton
    • Serve approximately 9,000 people in Trinity County
    • 33 different budget units within this agency
    • $61 million +
    • Most of the funding is committed to specific uses
    • Realignment Funds – Sales Tax and Vehicle License Fees
      • Funds used to support 11 other areas, including Animal Control, Jail Health, etc.
    • General Fund Contribution – $604,155 (General Assistance, Public Guardian, Veteran’s Services, Office of Emergency Services)
      • Veteran’s Services – currently serves 406 people… and growing. $9 million a year coming into the County (to these veterans) due to support from this department.
    • 148 allocated positions
    • 24% to 28% staff vacancy rate
    • Use contractors for many roles that don’t require full time employees.
    • Highlights
      • Mobile Crisis Response Unit – noted the heavy lift involved in getting this up and running.
      • OES – ReadyTrinity.Org, Hazard Mitigation Plan
      •  Jail Health – coordinated effort that enhanced services and generated significant levels of additional funding
      • …
  • Human Resources/Risk Management
  • Information Technology
    • One additional position reflected in the proposed budget
    • Public Comment
      • Advocacy offered regarding the importance of the IT Department. Noted that staffing levels are very low. Noted that there is no overtime, nor “extra help” in the proposed budget. Suggested trading other new positions to fund additional headcount in this department.
    • The “reduction” in funding reflects the fact that we no longer have one-time ARPA funds.
  • Probation
    • Noted the importance of, and challenges with, grant funding.
    • “Doing ordinary extremely well”
    • Probation is experiencing a higher level of ongoing responsibilities that are no longer funded via (previously received) realignment funds.
  • Sheriff
    • Noted the significant improvement in funding levels, this year over last year.
    • Acknowledged the contributions of HHSA and Probation in making this new financial reality possible.
    • Hope to hire 4 to 6 deputies (11 applications on file) based on quality.
    • Looking forward to returning to 24/7 patrol support
    • Acknowledged the significant contributions made last year by TASA to maintain key programs through the Animal Shelter.
  • Department of Transportation
  • Treasurer/Tax Collector
    • Public Comment – encouraged ongoing support of Tourism Partners through allocation of funds that originate through the Transient Occupancy Tax. Noted that the work done by these organizations is all done by volunteers.
  • Tourism Funding
    • The board did agree to move forward with plans to allocate $70,000 for use in promoting/supporting tourism. Supervisor Leutwyler will work with staff to share plans for interested parties to submit applications for these funds.
    • The board also noted that the proposed Tourism Business Investment District would more than triple the amount of money available to promote and support tourism – a key driver of our economy.

Board Direction

  • No changes required
ADJOURN

Sharing Information  |  Encouraging Engagement

Please use this form to let me know if you would like to be added to the distribution list for updates. Check the box next to the type of updates you would like to receive.