San Diego County budget Analysis
Analysis of San Diego County Budget Documents for 2024-25
Analysis Summary
Here's a summary of the analysis of the County of San Diego Budget for 2024-25:
Total Budget: $8.48 billion, a 3.9% increase from the previous year.
Key Budget Areas:
1. Health & Human Services: $3.44 billion (40.6%)
2. Public Safety: $2.74 billion (32.3%)
3. Land Use & Environment: $927.2 million (10.9%)
4. Finance & General Government: $796.0 million (9.4%)
5. Finance Other: $447.3 million (5.3%)
6. Capital Program: $132.9 million (1.6%)
Major Revenue Sources:
1. State Revenue: $2.57 billion (30.3%)
2. Property and Other Taxes: $1.79 billion (21.1%)
3. Charges for Services, Fees and Fines: $1.40 billion (16.5%)
4. Federal Revenue: $1.32 billion (15.5%)
5. Other sources: $1.41 billion (16.6%)
Expenditure Breakdown:
1. Services & Supplies: $3.50 billion (41.2%)
2. Salaries & Benefits: $3.34 billion (39.4%)
3. Other Charges: $907.3 million (10.7%)
4. Operating Transfers Out: $663.3 million (7.8%)
5. Capital Assets/Land Acquisition: $153.2 million (1.8%)
Key Investments:
- Behavioral health services
- Homelessness and housing initiatives
- Public safety and justice reform
- Infrastructure and capital projects
- Environmental sustainability efforts
Staffing: 20,459.25 positions, an increase of 72 positions (0.4%)
Notable Changes from Previous Year:
- Overall budget increase of $317.7 million (3.9%)
- Increased state revenue and property taxes
- Decreased capital assets/land acquisition spending
- Increased use of fund balance to bridge revenue shortfalls
The budget aims to sustain core services, limit growth in mandated programs, operate new facilities, and manage staffing growth efficiently. It includes significant investments in health and human services, public safety, and environmental initiatives while addressing challenges such as homelessness and behavioral health.
Analysis of Get to Know the County Budget 2024-25 Recommended Budget
Here is a summary of the San Diego County Budget for 2024-25 based on the Get to Know the County Budget 2024-25 Recommended Budget:
Total Budget: $8.48 billion, an increase of $317.7 million (3.9%) from the previous year.
Key Budget Areas:
1. Health & Human Services: $3.44 billion (40.6%)
2. Public Safety: $2.74 billion (32.3%)
3. Land Use & Environment: $927.2 million (10.9%)
4. Finance & General Government: $796.0 million (9.4%)
5. Finance Other: $447.3 million (5.3%)
6. Capital Program: $132.9 million (1.6%)
Total Staffing: 20,459.25 positions, an increase of 72 positions (0.4%)
Major Investments and Highlights:
- Infrastructure: $132.9 million for facilities, $480.8 million for public works
- Behavioral Health: Over $1.1 billion total investment
- Homelessness: $98.7 million to support at-risk populations
- Housing: $90.9 million for housing resources and development
- Support Services: $812.2 million for eligibility/self-sufficiency services
- Justice Reform: Over $230 million for alternatives to incarceration
- Public Safety: $2.7 billion total, including fire and law enforcement
- Public Health: $291.8 million for public health services
- Environmental Sustainability: Investments in watershed protection, land preservation, and climate action
The budget is based on core values of belonging, equity, access, sustainability, integrity, and excellence. It aims to sustain core services, limit growth in mandated programs, operate new facilities, and manage staffing growth efficiently.
The budget process involves community input, with opportunities for public feedback through online comments, community meetings, and public hearings before the Board of Supervisors adopts the final budget.
Based on the information provided in the document, here's the table sorted by descending amount:
|
Income Source |
Percentage |
|
Federal, state or other governments |
48.5% |
|
Fees for services |
21.0% |
|
Property taxes |
16.5% |
|
Other sources |
14.0% |
This table shows the four main categories of income sources for the San Diego County Budget, arranged from the largest contributor to the smallest. The largest portion of the budget comes from other levels of government, while the smallest portion is from various other unspecified sources.
Here’a table of expenditures based on the information provided in the document. Here's the table of expenditure categories for the San Diego County Budget, sorted by descending amount:
|
Income Source |
Amount |
Percentage |
|
Federal state or other governments |
$4,112.80 |
48.50 |
|
Fees for services |
$1,780.80 |
21.00 |
|
Property taxes |
$1,399.20 |
16.50 |
|
Other sources |
$1,187.20 |
14.00 |
|
Total |
$8,480.00 |
100.00 |
|
Expenditure Category |
Amount (in millions) |
Percentage |
|
Health & Human Services |
$3,441.10 |
40.60 |
|
Public Safety |
$2,739.00 |
32.30 |
|
Land Use & Environment |
$ 927.20 |
10.90 |
|
Finance & General Government |
$ 796.00 |
9.40 |
|
Finance Other |
$ 447.30 |
5.30 |
|
Capital Program |
$ 132.90 |
1.60 |
|
Total |
$ 8,483.50 |
100.10 |
This table shows the six main categories of expenditures in the San Diego County Budget for 2024-25, arranged from the largest to the smallest. The Health & Human Services category represents the largest portion of the budget, while the Capital Program accounts for the smallest share. The table data is shown graphically in the following pie charts:
Manner of Fund Dispersal (Personnel, Contracts, etc.)
After carefully reviewing the
document, I don't see a specific breakdown or total figure for personnel
expenses across the entire county budget. The document provides staffing
numbers but does not give a comprehensive figure for personnel costs.
The document does mention:
- Total Recommended Staffing: 20,459.25 positions
- An increase of 72 positions or 0.4% over the previous fiscal year
It also provides some staffing breakdowns by department:
- Health & Human Services: 8,243.50 (+10/+0.1%)
- Public Safety: 8,077.00 (+12/+0.1%)
- Land Use & Environment: 2,161.75 (+44/+2.1%)
- Finance & General Government: 1,977.00 (+6/+0.3%)
However, the document doesn't provide a specific total for personnel expenses or salaries. Such information might be available in more detailed budget documents, but it's not included in this summary.
The document doesn't specify exact amounts or percentages for each of these areas from federal or state sources. It's also worth noting that the "other governments" mentioned could include funding from other local jurisdictions for shared services or regional initiatives.
The document doesn't provide a comprehensive breakdown of how funds are distributed across these specific categories (personnel wages, contracts for services, and transfer payments to individuals). However, I can provide some insights based on the information given:
Personnel Wages:
- The budget includes funding for 20,459.25 staff positions, but doesn't specify the total amount allocated to wages.
- Some departments mention adding new positions, which implies increased personnel costs.
Contracts for Services:
- While not explicitly categorized, many budget items likely involve contracts:
- Infrastructure projects (e.g., road maintenance, facility improvements)
- Some health and social services may be contracted out
- Environmental projects and studies
- Transfer Payments to Individuals:
- Several programs mentioned likely involve direct payments or benefits to individuals:
- CalFresh and Medi-Cal programs
- Housing assistance and rental subsidies
- Foster care support
- In-Home Supportive Services
Specific examples from the document include:
- $812.2 million for Eligibility/Self-Sufficiency Services, which likely includes both personnel costs and transfer payments.
- Over $200 million for In-Home Supportive Services, which may include both wages for care providers and payments to beneficiaries.
- $158 million for families supporting foster and adopted children, which likely involves transfer payments.
- $500-a-month rental subsidy for nearly 400 older adults at risk of homelessness.
The budget also mentions investments in various services and programs, but doesn't specify whether these are provided directly by county employees or through contracts with external providers.
For a detailed breakdown of how funds are distributed across these categories, you would need to consult more comprehensive budget documents from San Diego County or contact their finance department directly.
Funding Source Limitations
Some funds received from other governments come with strings attached. There are limited details about the funds received from other government agencies based on the information in the document. The largest income source for San Diego County is "Federal, state or other governments," accounting for 48.5% of the total budget.
While the document doesn't provide an exhaustive breakdown, it does mention several areas where federal and state funding is likely involved:
- Health and Human Services:
- Funding for programs like CalFresh and Medi-Cal
- Support for behavioral health services
- Funding for child welfare services and foster care
- Public Safety:
- Possibly funding for justice reform initiatives and alternatives to incarceration
- Housing and Homelessness:
- Likely includes federal and state grants for affordable housing and homelessness prevention
- Environmental Programs:
- Potential funding for conservation efforts and climate action plans
- Infrastructure:
- Possible federal or state grants for road maintenance and improvements
- Public Health:
- Funding for disease prevention and public health services
- Social Services:
- Support for programs assisting vulnerable populations
The ICAO’s 2 Year Plan “Budget at a Glance”
To get the sort of breakdown desired, the ICAO’s 2 Year Plan “Budget at a Glance” section pp 9-25 was consulted for more detailed San Diego County.
Here is a summary of the San Diego County CAO Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25:
Total Budget: $8.48 billion, an increase of $317.7 million (3.9%) from the previous year.
Key Budget Areas:
1. Health & Human Services: $3.44 billion (40.6%)
2. Public Safety: $2.74 billion (32.3%)
3. Land Use & Environment: $796.0 million (9.4%)
4. Finance & General Government: $927.2 million (10.9%)
5. Capital Program: $132.9 million (1.6%)
6. Finance Other: $447.3 million (5.3%)
Major Revenue Sources:
- State Revenue: $2.57 billion (30.3%)
- Property and Other Taxes: $1.79 billion (21.1%)
- Charges for Services, Fees and Fines: $1.40 billion (16.5%)
- Federal Revenue: $1.32 billion (15.5%)
- Other sources: $1.41 billion (16.6%)
Total Staffing: 20,459.25 positions, an increase of 72 positions (0.4%)
Key Investments:
- Behavioral health services
- Homelessness and housing initiatives
- Public safety and justice reform
- Infrastructure and capital projects
- Environmental sustainability efforts
- Social services and support programs
The budget aims to sustain core services, limit growth in mandated programs, operate new facilities, and manage staffing growth efficiently. It uses some one-time funding sources to bridge revenue shortfalls, particularly in Health and Human Services realignment revenue.
The following table is based on figures from CAO 2 year plan Budget at a Glance
|
Income Source |
Amount (in millions) |
Amount Per Capita |
Percentage |
|
State Revenue |
2573.4 |
$779.82 |
30.30% |
|
Property and Other Taxes |
1788.1 |
$541.85 |
21.10% |
|
Charges for Services Fees and Fines |
1398.5 |
$423.79 |
16.50% |
|
Federal Revenue |
1316.3 |
$398.88 |
15.50% |
|
Operating Transfers and Other Financing Sources Use of Money & Property and Misc. Revenues |
840.1 |
$254.58 |
9.90% |
|
Use of Fund Balance/Fund Balance Component Decreases |
344.8 |
$104.48 |
4.10% |
|
Other Intergovernmental Revenue |
222.3 |
$67.36 |
2.60% |
|
Total |
8483.5 |
$2,570.76 |
100.00% |
|
Expenditure Category |
Amount (in millions) |
Amount Per Capita |
Percentage |
|
Services & Supplies |
3495.6 |
$1,059.27 |
41.20% |
|
Salaries & Benefits |
3344.2 |
$1,013.39 |
39.40% |
|
Other Charges |
907.3 |
$274.94 |
10.70% |
|
Operating Transfers Out |
663.3 |
$200.97 |
7.80% |
|
Capital Assets/Land Acquisition |
153.2 |
$46.42 |
1.80% |
|
Capital Assets Equipment |
58.1 |
$17.61 |
0.70% |
|
Remaining Categories |
-138.1 |
(41.85) |
-1.60% |
|
Total |
8483.6 |
$2,570.79 |
100.00% |
|
Group/Agency |
Amount (in millions) |
Amount Per Capita |
Percentage |
|
Health and Human Services |
3441.1 |
$1,042.76 |
40.60% |
|
Public Safety |
2739 |
$829.39 |
32.30% |
|
Land Use and Environment |
796 |
$241.21 |
9.40% |
|
Finance and General Government |
927.2 |
$280.97 |
10.90% |
|
Capital Program |
132.9 |
$40.27 |
1.60% |
|
Finance Other |
447.3 |
$135.55 |
5.30% |
|
Total |
8483.5 |
$2,570.15 |
100.10% |
This data is shown graphically in the following 3 pie charts: one for funding sources, and the other 2 showing expense by disbursement type and department.
Changes from Previous Budget
The Fiscal Year 2024-25 Recommended Budget was compared with the Fiscal Year 2023-24 Adopted Budget to identify key changes. Here's a summary of the major changes:
1. Overall Budget:
a. Increased by $317.7 million or 3.9%, from $8,165.9 million to $8,483.6 million
2. Revenue Changes:
a. State Revenue: Increased by $101.8 million (4.1%)
b. Property and Other Taxes: Increased by $132.9 million (8.0%)
c. Charges for Services, Fees and Fines: Increased by $44.0 million (3.2%)
d. Federal Revenue: Increased by $56.1 million (4.5%)
e. Operating Transfers and Other Financing Sources: Decreased by $141.3 million (14.4%)
f. Use of Fund Balance: Increased by $105.1 million (43.9%)
g. Other Intergovernmental Revenue: Increased by $19.1 million (9.4%)
3. Expenditure Changes:
a. Salaries & Benefits: Increased by $161.3 million (5.1%)
b. Services & Supplies: Increased by $226.8 million (6.9%)
c. Other Charges: Increased by $19.1 million (2.2%)
d. Operating Transfers Out: Increased by $20.9 million (3.3%)
e. Capital Assets/Land Acquisition: Decreased by $137.4 million (47.3%)
f. Capital Assets Equipment: Increased by $4.8 million (9.0%)
4. Staffing Changes:
a. Total staffing increased by 72 positions (0.4%), from 20,387.25 to 20,459.25
b. Public Safety: +12 positions
c. Health and Human Services: +10 positions
d. Land Use and Environment: +44 positions
e. Finance and General Government: +6 positions
5. Key Areas of Increase:
a. Health and Human Services Agency: +$243.2 million
b. Land Use and Environment Group: +$121.6 million
c. Public Safety Group: +$55.6 million
d. Finance and General Government Group: +$37.7 million
6. Areas of Decrease:
a. Capital Program: -$126.0 million
b. Finance Other: -$14.4 million
7. Notable Investments:
a. Increased funding for behavioral health services
b. Additional resources for homelessness and housing initiatives
c. Investments in public safety and justice reform
d. Funding for environmental sustainability efforts
e. Continued support for social services and vulnerable populations
These changes reflect the county's priorities in maintaining core services, addressing critical needs, and adapting to current economic conditions, including mitigating revenue shortfalls in some areas.
Disbursement Types
Based on the information provided in the document, I can give you a breakdown of how funds are distributed in the CAO Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25. The budget categorizes expenditures in several ways, which roughly correspond to your categories of personnel wages, contracts for services, and transfer payments to individuals. Here's the breakdown:
However, the exact amounts for these programs are not clearly delineated in the budget summary provided.
Based on the information provided in the document, this is a breakdown of how funds are distributed in the CAO Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 2024-25. The budget categorizes expenditures in several ways, which roughly correspond to the categories of personnel wages, contracts for services, and transfer payments to individuals. Here's the breakdown:
1. Personnel Wages:
- Salaries & Benefits: $3,344.2 million (39.4% of total budget)
- This category directly corresponds to personnel wages and benefits.
2. Contracts for Services:
- Services & Supplies: $3,495.6 million (41.2% of total budget)
- While this category isn't exclusively for contracts, it likely includes a significant portion of contracted services.
3. Transfer Payments to Individuals:
- Other Charges: $907.3 million (10.7% of total budget)
- This category likely includes many of the transfer payments to individuals, though it may also include other types of expenses.
4. Other Categories:
- Operating Transfers Out: $663.3 million (7.8%)
- Capital Assets/Land Acquisition: $153.2 million (1.8%)
- Capital Assets Equipment: $58.1 million (0.7%)
- Remaining Categories: -$138.1 million (-1.6%)
The document also mentions specific programs that involve transfer payments or services to individuals, such as:
- CalFresh and Medi-Cal programs
- Housing assistance and rental subsidies
- Foster care support
- In-Home Supportive Services
However, the exact amounts for these programs are not clearly delineated in the budget summary provided.
Pension Funding
The document mentions funding for employee pensions, although it doesn't provide specific dollar amounts for pension funding. Here are the relevant references I found:
1. In the overview of budget changes, it states: "An increase of $161.3 million in Salaries & Benefits is primarily due to negotiated labor agreements, retirement contributions for safety members, increased staffing levels across the organization to support programs and operational needs..."
2. When discussing the overall budget strategy, the document mentions: "While the County will continue to meet its local revenue share of commitments to labor, capital infrastructure, and retirement, the most recent Financial Outlook as of Second Quarter on March 12, 2024 shows a $63.5 million gap remaining in Fiscal Year 2025–26."
These references indicate that:
1. The budget includes increased funding for retirement contributions, particularly for safety members (likely referring to law enforcement, firefighters, and other public safety employees).
2. Meeting retirement commitments is considered part of the County's ongoing financial obligations.
However, the document does not provide a specific breakdown of how much is allocated to pension funding or how this compares to previous years. For more detailed information on pension funding, you would likely need to consult more comprehensive budget documents or contact the San Diego County finance department directly.
For a more precise breakdown of funds distributed to personnel wages, contracts for services, and transfer payments to individuals, I suppose you would need to analyze more detailed budget documents from San Diego County.
Capital Expenditures
The document mentions several specific capital expenditures. Here's a list of the capital expenditures that are explicitly mentioned:
1. $132.9 million total for new facilities and maintenance of existing ones.
2. Road infrastructure:
- $189 million for road safety, including traffic signals, curb ramps, pedestrian crossings, guardrails, new sidewalks, and bike lanes.
- $65.5 million to maintain 2,000 miles of unincorporated roadways.
3. Parks and Recreation:
- Funding for operating 157 park facilities, 58,000 acres of parkland, and 389 miles of trails.
- Redevelopment of the Mira Mesa youth recreation center.
4. Libraries:
- $22.8 million for a new Casa de Oro Library.
5. Public Safety facilities:
- $5 million to start replacing the 50-year-old Ramona Sheriff Substation.
- $400,000 for Ramona Fire Station 80 remodel and fire training tower.
- $51 million to improve adult detention facilities.
- $6.3 million for East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility improvements.
6. Health facilities:
- Funding for a new state-of-the-art public health lab to test for infectious diseases.
7. Environmental projects:
- $18.2 million for watershed protection and new green infrastructure projects.
- Funding for installing new electric vehicle charging stations for the public.
Other infrastructure:
$9 million to advance broadband connectivity in rural areas of the county.
9. Sanitation and flood control:
- $4.7 million to prevent storm flooding by maintaining culverts, channels, levees, and storm drains.
10. County operations:
- Funding to support the Zero Carbon Portfolio Plan, aiming to reduce carbon emissions from County facilities by 90% by 2030.
These capital expenditures cover a wide range of areas, including transportation infrastructure, public facilities, environmental projects, and technological improvements. The exact amounts for some of these projects are not specified in the provided document.
A park, a migrant center and help for victims of violence: What’s changed in the county’s revised $8.5B budget
San Diego County’s revised budget for the upcoming year rolls back most of its proposed cuts to public safety while adding more money to further plans for a new migrant transition center.
The revised plan adds almost $46.9 million in spending, nearly all of which is earmarked for behavioral health and public safety — the two county agencies that account for the largest share of spending.
It totals $8.53 billion, up 4.5 percent from the current fiscal year’s budget, adding $364.5 million and 72 county jobs, for more than 20,400 full-time staff.
The Public Safety Group is slated to receive $22.8 million in additional funding, most of which will go to support the District Attorney’s Office.
Although $14.6 million was restored, the department will still see a decline in its spending, as its overall budget falls from $295 million to $280 million.
More than half of the restored funding, $8.5 million, will go toward salaries and benefits to support the office’s current caseload and to respond to legislative changes.
Another $6 million will be transferred out of the agency’s executive office public safety tax proceeds fund to support the North and South County Family Justice Centers, which serve victims of domestic violence and other abuse. Half will go to support client services and half to lease payments.
The overall public safety budget is $78.4 million higher than last year.
The county Health and Human Services Agency, which is responsible for everything from public health and child welfare to mental health and homelessness services, will get an additional $13.7 million. Nearly all of that, $13.1 million, will go to help create a transition day center to assist recently arrived migrants.
County supervisors decided last month to move forward with its plans for the center after securing $19.6 million in federal funding.
The county will use part of its federal allocation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter and Services Program, which funds non-federal entities that provide shelter and other eligible services to migrants.
The county has already begun searching for a facility operator and plans to select one next month, officials said. It is unclear what the county will do with the remaining $6.5 million in SSP funds.
The revised public health budget totals $3.4 billion, up nearly $257 million from last year. That agency’s budget now accounts for about 40.5 percent of all county spending — up from 39.2 percent this year.
Other changes include another $7.5 million to cover higher construction costs for Calavo Park in Spring Valley, which has been in the works since 2019, and $1 million to update county zoning ordinances related to battery energy-storage facilities, after a recent fire at an Otay Mesa facility burned for nearly two weeks.
The revised budget is available for review online.
The Board of Supervisors will conduct deliberations and adopt the budget during its next meeting on Tuesday, June 25.
If approved, the budget will take effect July 1 and determine most public spending through June 2025.
Message from the San Diego County ICAO
San Diego County is a region with nearly 3.3 million people. There is a lot to love about this place we call home.
Nearly the geographic size of Connecticut, our county is a destination spot for almost 32 million visitors a year. It’s home to wonderfully diverse residents who live, work and recreate in a place that includes beaches, mountains, desert and some of the rarest and most unique environmental habitats in the nation.
Our organization is responsible for providing many services to support the entire region – things like food and restaurant inspections, beach and bay water-quality testing, elections, social services, public health programs, foster care, adult protective services and more.
In our unincorporated communities, we provide all of those things as well as city-type services, from fire protection and maintaining roads and flood control districts to libraries, parks, law enforcement and land use decision-making that shapes our communities for generations to come. The communities within the unincorporated area make up a good portion of the region. In fact, if the unincorporated area were a city, it would be the second largest in our region by population and larger geographically than Rhode Island and Delaware combined.So it’s not a surprise that our County budget—$8.48 billion—and the role it plays in the lives of everyone who lives and visits here, is also significant.
We build our budget on our core values—belonging, equity, access, sustainability, integrity and excellence.
And we could not do it without your help; from meeting you in our communities, collecting your thoughts in surveys and getting together with you online, we know you are our best partners in moving the region forward.
Because of our work together, this is a budget that not only provides the essential services that we all rely on; it also strives to make a difference in areas that increasingly affect our community.
Housing is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and we are working to significantly reduce homelessness and create affordability for all income levels. This new budget includes investments in resources for people experiencing homelessness to provide access to shelter, housing and services, as well as $30 million for resources to encourage housing affordability and remove barriers to housing production.
You’ll also see our budget continues to invest in safety-net programs that help more than 1 million vulnerable residents – ensuring access to programs like CalFresh and Medi-Cal – to make sure people have the food, health services and financial support they need.
The County is dedicated to sustainability and reducing the impacts of climate change, investing in watershed protection, adding public electric vehicle charging stations, and planting thousands of trees while also reflecting that commitment in our own operations with a plan to reduce carbon emissions in County facilities by 90% by 2030.
Additionally, this budget will maintain its investment in the County of San Diego’s team, the workforce that is proud to serve you, a team that is the heart and soul of all we do, a team that wants to make a difference.
There is much more to explore in the recommended budget and more to
learn about the investments being made in this region we are so proud
to call home. I invite you to look through our open budget website.
Together, we are building a better region – a place we not only call
home, but one where every one of us can truly be at home.
Sarah Aghassi
Interim Chief Administrative
Officer
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