Despite news of some temporary funds from a revised State of California budget, Santa Barbara County still faces an uncertain financial future.

The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday heard a report detailing changes that the state legislature made to its annual budget and how extra funds could affect county services over the next fiscal year.

The state budget went into effect on June 29, but the state legislature is still in session until the end of August.

During this time, the legislature can still choose to adjust its budget and what to fund.

The county has approved its own 2026-27 $1.66 billion budget as it prepared for cuts at both the state and federal levels. The budget was reduced by 1.7% compared with the 2025-26 fiscal year.

As part of the cuts, the county reduced services, eliminated empty positions and laid off employees.

Most of the county’s state funding changes would come as one-time funds instead of ongoing revenue, according to Claire Tobin, the county’s legislative analyst.

Because of that, she and other staff on Tuesday did not recommend any immediate changes to the county’s budget.

She added that the county is not sure how much money it would receive from the state.

“This is helpful for us in the short term, but it makes it difficult to make any direct changes in the overall structure of the budget,” Tobin told the board.

Paul Clementi, budget director, explained that the state sets a total sum for specific services and allocates that money to all the counties across California.

Santa Barbara County usually receives letters in October telling it how much funding it has been granted, according to Clementi.

With the uncertainty of the amount and the fact that it would be a one-time amount, he said the county most likely would not use the funding to hire new staff.

“We’re looking at likely using it for overtime for existing staff and things like that if their caseloads spike versus adding new staff that you may have to (look) at cutting again when the funding runs out in a year or two,” Clementi told Noozhawk.

Key items missing from the state budget include funding for healthcare for low-income residents. California counties have requested $50 million for the year, according to a staff report.

Another missing item is funding for law enforcement to enforce Proposition 36. The proposition was approved by voters in 2024 to increase the sentences for certain felonies and misdemeanors.

Even though the funds are not long-term, the county already has seen the impact of some of the state’s changes. In July, the state announced it would delay changes to how counties are reimbursed for Medi-Cal.  

The county Public Health Department was allowed to restore 15 positions after announcing it was laying off employees under budget cuts. The department had planned for a reduction of $6.6 million due to the reimbursement changes.

The new rules would have affected the rules for patients who are undocumented and those without legal immigration status.

Under the new system, those patients would be required to pay fees for individual services instead of managed care.

Instead, the state delayed the changes, and Public Health will continue to be reimbursed under the old rules for the year.

The state also allocated one-time funds to assist with administrative costs for Medi-Cal and CalFresh eligibility. The state will provide the county with up to $3 million for increased Medi-Cal workload.

Additionally, the state approved another $195,000 for CalFresh services, but an additional $1.8 million will be available over the next three fiscal years.

The state also included $200,000 for emergency response for Child Protective Services and $1.1 million for homelessness and housing programs.

During his comments, Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson said he had hoped to have some clarity on the state’s intentions but that it still seems murky.

He added that the board approved a budget based on the idea that the county was facing the worst-case scenario.

“I think … it was actually a very prudent budget. As painful as it was for the entire county, I think it was the right call,” Nelson said.