Board of Supervisors — 2023-06-16

Good morning, I will call to order the June 16th 2023 meeting of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors and budget hearings for fiscal year 2023-2024 operating plan. Madam Clerk please call the roll.

Chair Williams, no report this morning.

Madam Clerk are there any announcements or changes to our agenda today?

Chair Williams and members of the board I do have a couple quick announcements this morning. I would like to note for those that intend to address the board during today's budget hearings there will be an opportunity for public comment at the conclusion of each functional group presentation if you are registering to provide verbal public comment through Zoom, please note which functional group you would like to speak on in your online registration. General public comment for items not on today's agenda will be at the conclusion of today's budget hearing schedule. Lastly, for the Board of Supervisors methods of public participation and to provide public comment on general public comment or an item on the board's agenda please see page two of the agenda.

Individuals that would like to provide verbal public comment may do so via Zoom by registering in advance via the link available on page 2. If you have any questions please contact the Clerk of the Board's Office at area code 805-568-2240 again that number is area code 805 5 6 8 2 2 4 0 that concludes my announcements this morning.

Thank you our first item is item number one please present that resolution

Chair Williams and members of the board. Administrative item number one is sponsored by Supervisor Capps. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming June 19th, 2023 as Juneteenth 2023 in Santa Barbara County and joining us in person today we have Diane Travis Teague and Dr. Charlotte Gallup-Moore. And if you can please come to the podium. Are they here? I'm not sure if they're here yet.

Great, and I will now turn it over to Supervisor Katz.

Thank you. Whereas news of the end of chattel slavery did not reach the frontier areas of the United States in particular the state of Texas until months after the conclusion of the Civil War more than two and a half years after President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on rebellious states on January 1st 1863 And whereas Union troops led by General Gordon Granger entered Galveston, Texas on June 19th 1865 issuing general order number three which ordered enslaved African people in Texas to be free and stated that quote this involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former enslavers And in slaves and whereas chattel slavery still continued in Union border states of Kentucky and Delaware, which was abolished by the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

In December of 1865 and now in 2023 due to the horrors of chattel slavery African American black people have yet to achieve true equality and equity in American society and Whereas racism and white supremacy have tainted the foundation of America, beginning with chattel slavery in 1619 and the denial of the humanity of those enslaved by the authors of the Declaration of Independence who declared quote all men are created equal while holding men and women of African descent in slavery.

And whereas systematic racism negatively impacts the physical mental and emotional well-being of over 10,000 black residents and also negatively affects all residents of Santa Barbara County. And whereas we must address the harsh reality of racism anti-blackness in Santa Barbara County intentionally work towards solutions and be the beacon of hope shining light on how to mitigate the epidemic loss of black lives in the United States And condemn all actions carried out in the spirit of racism and all activities that sustain systemic racism.

And whereas Juneteenth allows us to celebrate the freeing of enslaved people, reflect on the condition of the lives of their descendants in our present day. And Juneteenth Santa Barbara calls to action all levels of government to commit ourselves to be anti-racist and combat anti-blackness as we work to end systemic racism across our country Now, therefore it is hereby ordered and resolved that this county of Santa Barbara declares and celebrates June 19th 2023 as Juneteenth and encourages all residents to use this time to learn about the legacy of black peoples their contributions and stand in alliance to end racism bigotry and hate.

Mr. Chair, Board of Supervisors, good morning. On behalf of the Juneteenth Santa Barbara Committee I am honored to accept this proclamation. Understanding our history is critical to the development of our understanding ourselves. Juneteenth which celebrates the emancipation of enslaved peoples in the United States is a time of remembrance and reflection Thank you again for honoring this day. We look forward to seeing you at many of our events throughout the next week.

Is there any public comment?

Chair Williams and members of the board, we have no request to speak on administrative item number one.

We'll go to administer right. Oh, can I get a motion on administrative item number one?

Move approval.

Is there a second? I'll second all those in favor please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Minister of item number two.

Chair Williams and members of the board administrative item number two is sponsored by Supervisor Capps. It is to adopt a resolution proclaiming the month of June 2023 As lgbtq plus pride month 2023 in Santa Barbara County and joining us in person today to receive this resolution. We have Kristen looking jerk, if you can please come to the podium and I will turn it over to Supervisor caps.

Thank you to the clerk. Whereas Santa Barbara County is home to a diverse and vibrant lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer plus community. Each June the county of Santa Barbara honors the significant contributions progress and culture of the LGBTQ plus community and their allies bring to enhance our region that we may celebrate in pride and Whereas Pride Month was catalyzed by the Stonewall Uprising in New York City on June 28th through the July 3rd, 1969 creating a movement for LGBTQ plus civil rights equality and inclusion.

And whereas LBGTQ plus individuals have risen above the challenges of their existence and equal rights including the denial of the right to marry discrimination in employment and housing the inadequate response to the AIDS epidemic The lack of protection from hate crimes and marginalization in media and society. Whereas the LGBTQ plus Californians are now protected from many of these issues, challenges still remain especially for LGBTQ plus ages including LGBTQ plus elders, transgender and gender nonconforming community members and LGBTQ plus people of color.

And the County of Santa Barbara stands against all forms of LGBTQ plus discrimination and hate. The County of Santa Barbara wants all LGBTQ plus people to know that they are valued members of our community And whereas LGBTQ plus people have contributed greatly to Santa Barbara County, enhancing our community's culture and serving in influential roles in government business arts and philanthropic sectors.

And whereas for decades LGBTQ plus communities have formed advocacy and support organizations to enhance the quality of life of LGBTQ plus Santa Barbara County residents, including The Pacific Pride Foundation, House of Pride and Equality, Santa Barbara Transgender Advocacy Network, PFLAG Santa Barbara, Pride & Joy Santa Barbara, Planned Parenthood of Central Coast, California Central Coast and the UCSB Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity.

And whereas the month of June is a time for reflection, celebration and renewed hope for LGBTQ plus people and everyone in our community. The County of Santa Barbara takes this opportunity to provide awareness, support and advocacy for the LGBTQ plus community and is an additional opportunity to engage in dialogue to strengthen community, build acceptance and advance equal rights.

And now therefore be it and hereby resolve that this Board of Supervisors declare the month of June 2023 to be LGBTQ plus Pride Month in Santa Barbara County. And this board encourages all community members to commit to being good allies to members of our LGBTQ plus community.

Supervisor Caps, Chair Williams, rest of the Board of Supervisors. Thank you. Good morning my name is Kristen Flickinger I use she her pronouns and I am the executive director Pacific Pride Foundation in Santa Barbara County. Simply thank you today. It is Pride Month, happy pride! As you mentioned in here many of the parts of our community experience particular vulnerabilities and if people can't see themselves reflected they cannot see their futures and that is very important This today is a proclamation, it's a resolution. It's something that says that you see and value our community. That is of critical importance truly now more than ever.

Hopefully this is a very seamless and easy meeting, which has not been everything we've experienced this year surprisingly. And I sense that allyship is not new to all of you but if it is welcome to allyship. It is often not easy. It's very important. It is simply very important. And today, with today's resolution what you have done is made sure that our community is reflected and seen and that we know we are supported by our elected officials. I don't take that lightly or for granted.

Thank you very, very much. I am grateful for your allyship and very proud to stand next to each and every one of you. Happy Pride!

Madam Clerk, is there any public comment?

Chair Williams and members of the board we do have seven requests to speak on this item.

Well we have a budget hearing so I will ask the speakers to keep to two minutes.

Please proceed. We will begin on Zoom with Maria Mello to be followed by Lynn Brown. Maria?

Hello my name is Maria Mello My pronouns are she and her. I am proud to serve at Pacific Pride Foundation as the Chief Programs Officer and to serve the LGBT community. Throughout the county, I just wanted to say that because my team and I work directly with the LGBT community every day. We recognize at this moment, this proclamation comes out of time where it's, I'd say it's more important than ever.

We have sensed the tension At different locations around the county, and we need all the support from everyone because it is a tense moment at the national level. And our LGBT kids are youth. Our professionals in the county or older adults are definitely feeling. The hate, so I think this is really important for us and we really believe that together as LGBT communities and allies. We continue to stand strong United committed to working with you all with community partners grassroots leaders elected officials private sector partners and school boards to build inclusive healthy and thriving communities in Santa Barbara. We know we can't do this alone. But we continue to do it with all our community partners who have stood with us and that we continue to stand with them as well.

Thank you so much and happy pride.

We will now go to Lynn Brown, to be followed by Cora Danielson, Lynn. And Lynn, we have unmuted you on our end. If you can please unmute on your end and then you could begin your comments. There you go.

Sorry, rookie mistake there. My pronouns are she and her and I'm an ally of the LGBTQ community and I'm a person who has loved ones in that community. I also chair the board at PPF and I simply today want to express my deepest gratitude to the county supervisors for proposing and approving this proclamation It shows your support of a thriving community and in a thriving LGBT community in our county, in our region. Well it just simply makes us a better place to live for everyone if we're inclusive of everyone. So again thank you so much especially during this time for your support of the LGBT community I'm in deepest deepest gratitude of what you've done today happy pride and thank you so much

We will now go to Cora Danielson to be followed by Carrie Tobes. Cora?

Hello, thank you I am also here my pronouns are she her I'm also here in support of the pride proclamation. I am the counseling program coordinator at Pacific Pride. And I see firsthand a lot of the trauma that LGBTQ plus folks come in with to our center, to seek mental health counseling for. And I just want to say it's so important as our Executive Director Kristen pointed out, it's so important that they see themselves represented in our community and see their futures there. That is so important to their mental health and their well-being So thank you so, so much for supporting this proclamation, for supporting the LGBTQ plus community. And I also am an ally and I have loved ones in this community which is what inspired me to do this work.

So thank you for your support.

We will now go to Carrie Tobes on Zoom and then we will come to Santa Barbara for Ray Ibarra.

Good morning, my name is Carrie Tobes. I use she her pronouns and I live and work in the city of Santa Barbara as an LGBTQ plus ally and in support of my LGBTQ plus family members and friends. I'm speaking out to convey my support for today's pride proclamation. I'd like to express my gratitude to the county supervisors for this proclamation in support of our LGBTQ plus community especially our transgendered and non-binary folks and people of color who are living at a very dangerous time where they're a target of increasing hate.

The LGBTQ plus community and our allies are grateful for your support, we'll continue to stand strong and committed with you to working to make Santa Barbara a safe place for everyone, a place where diversity is embraced and celebrated. Thank you.

We will now come to Santa Barbara for Ray Ibarra to be followed by Jeanette Degondi.

Good morning, Chair Williams and members of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. Thank you for the opportunity to speak as a step parent of an adult gay man in a former crisis counselor. I believe that is extremely important for elected officials and leaders in the community to express and demonstrate support for the LGBTQ community. In my years as a crisis counselor, I worked with many LGBTQ youth that felt frightened Abandoned and isolated by the families in the community.

With the recent increase in nationwide attacks on LGBTQ communities, it is vital to show that hate and ignorance is not what Santa Barbara County accepts or supports. Let's make Santa Barbara County a safe and inclusive community. Thank you for the opportunity.

We will now go to Jeanette DeGondi, to be followed by Kim Johnson who is our final speaker. Jeanette?

First of all thank you for letting me speak. I don't usually come to board meetings. I want to thank you for supporting diversity in this county. I actually am a retired educator and a mom and I've raised three sons. We've all gone through the Santa Barbara School District And I will tell you, and I just would like to testify that every student who came into my classroom all it mattered was teaching kindness, character and of course education. I never banned a book or closed any avenue of exploration with my own children and with my students.

And I feel confident that that's the right path. All three of my sons graduated from San Marcos, went on to UCLA and Stanford, and now have MDs and PhDs. And they are kind and generous and lovely human beings with a very diverse group of friends. And I now have young grandchildren who will follow in that path. And think that is the hope for the future. So it worries me a little that people have forgotten that kindness and character are really all that matters. Thank you.

And we will now go to our final speaker, Kim Johnson.

Good morning. As a member of the Santa Barbara community, also as a homeowner. I am so pleased and honored that the county has decided to continue their support of the LGBTQ community. I want to thank you so much for your steadfast allyship both now and into the future. It means a lot especially I'm so excited to be here. It's been a while since I've In an environment where I feel supported, especially by those in positions of power. And I just want to let you know that your bravery, your integrity is seen as appreciated and we in the community will continue to stand by you as you continue to support us and support the beauty and the flourishing of Santa Barbara County. Thank you so much. Happy pride.

And that concludes public comment on this item.

It's to the board, can I get a motion?

Move approval of the resolution.

Okay and can I get a second? Second by Labanino. Mr. Nelson.

Yes thank you Chair Williams. I voted for this resolution two years ago unfortunately this issue at this time has been politicized on a national and local level I believe in every one of our residents' rights to exercise their civil liberties and freedoms without discrimination. I absolutely condemn acts of violence upon this community or any other. You are seen and supported.

I also reject the notion that some of those with differing opinions and beliefs are perpetuating hate and bigotry. Today, I will abstain from this resolution.

There's a motion and a second? All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? Abstain. That brings us to our budget hearing for the fiscal year 2023-24 operating plan. I'll turn it over to Monomi Yasato.

Thank you Chair Williams and board members. Good morning as you said today we are presenting to you for adoption the recommended budget for next fiscal year 2023-24. Next slide. And the framework for today is I will give an overview. I will actually give an introduction and our budget director will probably over you, we'll talk about high-level summaries of the functional groups. Departments will give updates as needed or as requested. The board will deliberate and at the end of the hearing take recommended actions on the budget. Now as you know your board is required by law to adopt a balanced budget.

And before we go to the next slide, I just want to say some thank yous First to our auditor controller, Betsy Schaefer and her staff. To Paul Clemente, our budget director, Nancy Anderson, our chief assistant county executive officer and our entire budget team and CEO team. And mostly to all of our department directors and for those on Zoom or watching us you don't see that all our department directors and their key staff are here today so thank you to all of them, their fiscal officers and their whole management staff for working with us throughout the year in being fiscally responsible.

But I also want to have a special recognition to some of our department directors who for whom this will be their last budget hearing. They will still be in their seats for another six to nine months but I do want to recognize them and thank them. And that's Marielena DeGuevara, our Human Resources Director. Joni Maiden, our Child Support Director. George Champion, our Community Services Director and our longest tenured Department Director Scott McLaughlin so thank you.

I think I got Scott a little teary-eyed. Next slide, please. Our budget theme this year is ready for today, preparing for tomorrow. And it's to signify that we are ready to move ahead and are moving ahead with the board's highest priorities and continue to make progress on them. I'll talk about them a little bit more but this really is possible because your board has adopted fiscally sound budgets have been prudent and it's the result of years of setting aside funding into ensure that we have a stable budgetary environment to weather All the different changes and uncertainty, but we're continuing also to prepare for tomorrow as you know that we are prone like many California counties and throughout the country now seeing disasters. The state just passed their budget, but as you know they met their deadline.

But there's a lot of budget bills that will follow after that. But state budget shortfalls legislative changes and lots of different uncertainty. But we know this budget sets aside ongoing funding to help with future deficits that we've already identified and well to adapt and be prepared for unexpected disasters and other uncertainty in the environment. And as I said, like others we remain challenged by this economic uncertainty and rising costs. We like other organizations throughout the country are seeing recruitment retention of critical staff is an issue and we continue to battle with deferred maintenance. In April at the budget workshops I did talk about the Anderson forecast in the uncertainty of a next recession but the one hopeful news is that they've said that if we do have another recession it would have we would see more mild impacts compared to recent years The state budget had a budget shortfall.

And as we know, the LAO, the Legislative Analyst's Office had stated that if the legislature adopts the governor's budget, the state will likely face more budget problems over the next few years and so since many of our programs in the county are funded by the state, we will be watchful of that. In our county substantial revenue growth over this past year's adopted budget is anticipated driven mainly by unanticipated property tax revenue In the current year and also expansions in some state programs. And as you know, cannabis tax revenue remains volatile. And we've tried to adapt and mitigate that.

Next slide. But again, this budget reflects prudent planning. This is the fifth year that we have not had service level reductions. And it's again achieved through just prioritizing projects, planning, managing resources. And that's not just the COs offset as all our departments so thank you to them. Revenue growth and operational efficiencies have allowed departments to absorb some of these increasing costs And we still have federal funding another one-time funding that's being invested in critical programs and infrastructure So again, this recommended budget includes funding to provide mandated and essential services meet our obligations address critical deferred maintenance and infrastructure and adhered to the board's financial management policies.

And also just to note that our reserves are strong and the strategic reserve is fully funded at 8% which is our target Our key challenges that we face, obviously we just talked about state mandates and regulations. And also the storms, the winter storms. We are still working on the recovery of some of those storms. They've created extensive damage throughout the county and funding is required for cash flow in some local match of federal dollars. Recruitment and retention issues are getting better but they are still having significant impacts on some of our departments Several multi-year projects are great regarding technology, but it is taking a lot of dedicated staff time. And as we've talked about in April, our insurance premiums continue to rise with general liability and work comp costs increasing more than typical.

But we do continue to make progress toward achieving key priorities and fulfilling commitments. Many times at the workshops or the hearings, we focus on what we can't fund because we don't have enough resources. And I just want to point out there's a lot this budget funds thanks to your board's leadership and foresight. And these are things that we are not required by law to do in many cases but it's things that the board has wanted to do and so I just want to highlight there is a lot that we are doing and that the board and our departments and the public should be proud of Addressing homelessness, for the last few years we have invested more in addressing homelessness than we had in previous years. And this includes 46 million towards facilities outreach rental assistance and encampment strategies.

We're working on a workforce housing study and looking at how we can improve just not housing production but for our local workforce. We're updating the inclusion inclusionary housing ordinance continue to support affordable housing production. Regarding libraries and parks, as you saw through our CIP discussion a few weeks ago we're improving and maintaining our parks including Kachuma Manning Arroyo and Lookout Park. The draft countywide rec plan is coming to the board and we continue to fund the annual CPI growth in library and we are going to be looking at how we can improve other library funding as the board directed us at the April workshops.

Climate change adaptation. Your board said you wanted us to go all electric on the vehicles that we could and develop the infrastructure, and so we are. $1.5 million is going towards EV infrastructure projects that continued from the previous year. There's 2.5 in energy efficiency upgrades and through capital projects that you looked at a couple of weeks ago, and you'll be seeing the climate action plan at your board in a few weeks. We're continuing to support our safety net services in the county. We have ARPA funding that's budgeted for child care recovery and resiliency, and you saw that a couple of weeks ago. Digital literacy and senior meals. Social services.

Recommended budget includes grant matches for the County Farmworker Resource Center, for which we received a grant that your board encouraged us to apply for. And Be Well is implementing not just a new electronic health record system will help the efficiency of the department but adding a co-response team in creating additional transitional units. We continue to focus on improving access to justice and diversion for a fair and efficient criminal justice system. We have funding to help structure looking at our IST population, in improving that working with multiple agencies on the felony IST work group.

The Public Defender is launching an early representation pilot initiatives to increase pre-arraignment access to counsel. An estimated 1.3 million is going to the digital evidence management system called DEMS that you heard about from Judge Ellsworth, and we're continuing to use Prop 170 money as set-asides in the recommended budget for criminal justice positions and initiatives.

We're continuing to support a more inclusive organization In the county and in our services, the community equity grant program will continue in its third year. And we have ARPA funded dedicated for translation service to improve language access. We'll be launching assessments of our services and also more internal facing work through HR. In innovation and technology, we're continuing to support the Workday ERP system that will help integrate finance payroll and HR implement the DEM system I just talked about And social services has been implementing the Caltrans system and CALAIM for public health and behavioral wellness. And one thing we didn't put on the slide, this is the first year in many, many years that we will have a standalone ITD department, technology department.

It's always been in general services. And as you know, this will be our first year. This budget reflects a standalone department. I'm not going to go through this whole slide, but it's to highlight that we are spending and investing in critical infrastructure. And again you saw some of this through the Capital Improvement Program budget that was presented. And so there is a lot that we are doing through all your departments in local funding and state funding and federal funding.

This is just to summarize that we are continuing to move forward on these important projects. So again, my budget message in April continues to be the same that we still need to be vigilant. Buckle up and be vigilant but we also are moving forward on your board's priorities to better serve our constituents and our residents and we continue to commit to deliver exceptional services so all in our county can enjoy a safe healthy and prosperous life. And with that I'm going to hand it over to our Budget Director Paul Clemente

Thank you, Mona. Good morning Chair Williams, members of the board. A quick update just before I get started that there were two board inquiry forms distributed with the hearing materials. One was an update on a question related to arts funding that was asked at workshops and the other was a response to a question about how many funded vacancies older than January 1st 2022 exist in the county right now? Those have been distributed with your materials and are also posted online with the other hearing materials

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Since I had one of those. Sure. Mr.

Lavagnino was the questioner of that

BIF so... Yeah and the question was just how many vacant funded positions did we have that are out in the county since before 2022 they're still vacant? And I appreciate I probably didn't understand the scope of the work that you were going to be required to do because I guess that's why we're gonna move to a standalone IT department A little bit of a firestorm so I do want to say, uh, I think this is something we should either have a agenda item about in the future before we get to the next budget. So that we can talk about what this really means because looking through it's.

You know, I know there's a story behind each and every one of these positions. But I also think that this is something we need to talk about so I don't want to hold up this year's budget but I think between now and next year that this is something we have to discuss.

Okay thank you Over the following presentation, we'll discuss the context within which we developed the recommended budget. I'll go over some of the overall budget numbers and discuss additions that were made after workshops. Then we'll discuss the CEO recommended expansions and final budget adjustments before moving on to brief functional group overviews providing updates since workshops and departments are here to answer any questions from your board.

And finally, we will wrap up with board deliberations and recommended actions. So we kicked off this budget process in December with our development report and five-year forecast. We worked with departments to develop preliminary budgets that were presented at the April workshops. We finalized and released the recommended budget on May 30th, and are presenting that to your board today along with recommended expansions and final budget adjustments for adoption.

Many considerations go into developing the recommended budget. A close look at resources, anticipated expenses, prior commitments and critical unmet needs are required. For fiscal year 23-24 we are projecting stable growth in both major discretionary revenue and state funding sources for ongoing services particularly in health and human service areas. Budgeted cannabis tax revenue continues to decline and we swapped some funding to other general fund sources and are recommending a further swap to alleviate some of those pressures while the market stabilizes.

As in past years, labor and liability costs continue to escalate and needed to be addressed in department budgets. Commitments to investments in deferred maintenance capital projects and information technology infrastructure have been incorporated as well as addressing key priorities that Mona just mentioned such as supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged populations climate change adaptation homelessness and housing and more Each year we also look to minimize service level reductions and departments identify needs in order to mitigate high liability risks, meet mandates and address critical organizational needs.

At budget workshops in April, we listened to feedback from your board and factored your priorities into the final recommended budget and CEO recommended expansions. And finally, as we develop the budget, we have to consider emerging issues that will create demands on resources and how we will deal with those issues to ensure continued fiscal stability. Our office has emphasized a five-year forecast process and recommended set-asides to prepare for issues that we see on the horizon.

The total operating budget for the County of Santa Barbara for fiscal year 23-24 is $1.48 billion and supports a workforce of just over 4,600 FTE. This is an increase of $90 million and 170 FTE from last fiscal year with much of that growth in social services, behavioral wellness, and the fire department. The charts on the next few slides are similar to those that we discussed at April workshops. There hasn't been a lot of change to the overall numbers since that presentation.

This is total operating revenues by category, totaling $1.52 billion with a vast majority 92% coming from three categories state and federal revenue tax receipts and charges for services. This chart shows the same operating revenues but categorized by the funds that receive them. The County General Fund receives or collects about $558 million, or 37% of total operating revenues.

Of that 558 million, about 372 million is discretionary general revenue that the Board of Supervisors has more discretion on uses than other sources. Discretionary revenues of $372 million is an increase of 9.3% from last fiscal year, which we've discussed previously is due in part to substantial growth in the current year over what was assumed in the budget While growth and property taxes sales taxes and TOT remain strong they are partially offset by a reduction in cannabis tax revenue This is just a further breakdown of discretionary general revenues showing that almost 80% is from property taxes.

We see cannabis dropping from almost 5% of the whole to about 2% in 23-24, with sales and TOT taxes hovering between 4 and 5% of the total. Other discretionary revenues make up the remaining 10%, and include franchise fees, interest income, state and federal payments, and the county's cost allocation plan revenue that's received from the special revenue funds.

There's just a different visualization of the same breakdown showing on the left side, the different sources that make up the full $372 million in discretionary general fund revenue. And we can see property taxes making up the largest bulk 79% of that and then the different functional groups that receive revenue as ongoing general fund contribution This chart shows the operating expenditures by category. Salary and benefits continue to be the largest expense for the county at 53% of the budget.

Recommended salary and benefit costs of 782.5 million in 2324 is an increase of 50 point 1 million dollars or about 6.8 percent on the prior year Representing the combined impact of the addition of the 170 FTE as well as projected increases in labor costs primarily salaries pensions and health insurance This chart shows where those different object level expenditures are being experienced. We see most salaries and benefits being expended in public safety and health and human services, where over 75% of the county's total FTE are located.

Services and supplies we see mostly in health and human services, much of that being CBO contracts and behavioral wellness and IHSS provider payments and social services. As well as community resources and public facilities with much of those expenditures being contract and professional work done out of the Public Works Department in their various operations.

Each year the retirement board sets employer contribution rates based on an actuarial valuation. The county's net retirement contribution increases by $11 million or 6.7% from the 22-23 adopted budget due to investment returns in the pension fund of about negative 1.8% on assumed returns of 7% in the 21-22 fiscal year as well as increases in salaries and the addition of new FTE driving that number up.

Of note, the almost flat increases we see in 22-23 over 21-22 were due to investment returns that year of over 25% on an assumption of 7%. This chart shows the staffing levels over five years by functional area. As I mentioned on a previous slide, over 75% of FTE are in health and human services and public safety. That's also where we're seeing most of the FTE increases over last year with behavioral wellness and DSS utilizing growth in state funding to add new positions that improve their operations and service delivery, as well as FIRE adding positions both to staff up their new dispatch center, as well as enhance services in state responsibility areas funded by state revenue.

So here I wanted to touch on what got added into the budget after receiving feedback at the workshops We received direction on which capital projects to allocate $11.9 million to, I'll briefly touch on these on the next slide. We also heard from Public Works that they would be able to fully fund additional lighting in Isla Vista out of their CSA 31 fund balance and we swapped 1.2 million dollars in cannabis funding with GFC for planners and libraries And earmarked $5 million in our Emerging Issues Fund Balance for parks, trails and open space and other recreational opportunities that previously been a planned use of cannabis fund balance.

These charges are already or these changes are already incorporated into the recommended budget before you today. This is just a reminder of those projects funded with the $11.9 million. Projects include the next phase in the courthouse roof replacement, funding for energy efficiency HVAC projects, holds for grant matches on projects like Orcutt Library and Solar Array at Kachuma, and many more.

Next I'll discuss the CEO recommended expansions included as attachment A1 in the hearing materials. The available revenues utilized in the recommended expansions are as follows. Continuing to work with the Assessor's Office and the Auditor-Controller, we received a revised estimate on property tax growth after workshops that increased ongoing discretionary revenue projections by $4.7 million.

We also had discussed at workshops that there was about $800,000 of projected ongoing Proposition 172 dollars unallocated We also went back and looked at budgeted ARPA expenditures in the current year versus estimated actual expenditures, and determined there would be at least $800,000 unspent this year that could be reallocated towards other eligible one-time uses.

There was also an expansion request, the Sheriff's Rapid DNA Instrument that meets eligible use requirements of the Prop 69 DNA Fund that we're recommending pulling $80,200 from for one more year. Finally as discussed at workshops there was 2.1 million one-time general fund and 1.5 million one-time Prop 172 balance remaining unallocated. The recommended expansions on the following slides allocate the remaining revenues, with the exception of $425,000 in one-time general fund dollars that the Board could direct us to allocate during deliberations or leave and fund balance.

We divided our recommended expansions into the categories seen on the next two slides. The first of those that constitute unavoidable operational costs or risk exposure, and include the CSD requests to fund or cut branch library rent increases and increased costs of the black gold system as well as cost to maintain current level of service at emergency shelters and warming centers.

There's also a general services cost of $228,000 for 24-7 security at the county's Better Avia Center that we were made aware of subsequent to workshops deriving from a report and recommendation from our physical security specialist. Finally there is a recommendation to set aside 1.2 million ongoing and 980,000 one time for potential costs related to ongoing litigation settlement compliance and other contractual obligations.

In the board policy and commitments category, we are increasing the deferred maintenance amount by an additional $846,000 based on calculating 18% of the 4.7 million dollar growth in discretionary revenues. We also recommend an additional cannabis swap of about 1.75 million which will move other ongoing costs unrelated to the Cannabis Program into GFC. This includes an AOP in the Elections Division, a Capital Projects Manager in General Services, Translation Services, ongoing equity funding and some deferred maintenance funding.

Cannabis Revenue continues to fund all enforcement and program administration costs as well as over $1.5 million in ongoing deferred maintenance funding And a wide variety of one-time funded projects, including a utility grade solar ordinance and employee housing study, transportation, electrification specialist in CSD, mobility projects and more. Third category on this slide are those expansions that make use of restricted funding sources.

We're recommending 500,000 of ARPA to provide one time move in costs such as security deposits and first month's rent under certain criteria for unincorporated areas of the county We also have 300,000 of ARPA going towards studies at Laguna County Sanitation District to identify potential groundwater recharge sites. We have about 350,000 of one-time Prop 172 funding the Sheriff's request for furniture and hardware replacement at the Dispatch Center and recommending the remaining ongoing Prop 172 And 165,000 of the one-time 172 be put into a criminal justice set aside until criminal justice needs are further clarified in the coming months.

High priority needs could include those related to compliance with the Disability Rights California Structured Settlement, jail population reduction strategies, diversion programs and more. There were some district attorney and public defender expansion requests that were contemplated as part of this set-aside, that have since received alternative funding. That I'll discuss more in the functional group summaries.

And there are others that may still be part of a recommended release of this set-aside. Finally, as I mentioned on the previous slide, we're recommending one time use of the DNA identification fund for the Sheriff's request on the rapid DNA instrument while we continue to seek ongoing funding solutions. For the priorities we heard from the board at workshops, we're recommending funding the Deputy County Counsel to add a second personnel attorney.

The one-time sustainability grant writing support requested by CSD. The one time administrative office professional in HR to support executive and management recruitments this year. $303,000 one-time to public works which when coupled with the additional 18% revenue they'll be receiving will total the $726,000 they requested to meet their funding needs to maintain current PCI in 2324.