Capital projects and pavement maintenance were discussed during the Santa Barbara County budget workshops this week.
Department heads from Public Works, Community Services, Planning and Development, and Agriculture/Weights and Measures gave presentations Monday to outline financial challenges heading into the next budget year.
They talked about maintenance backlogs, expiring grants, staffing vacancies and uncertainty around future federal funding.
The presentations are part of a broader set of workshops where supervisors are weighing more than $70 million in proposed cuts across county departments to address a growing deficit.
Feedback from these meetings will help form the recommended budget. Supervisors will adopt a budget in June for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
Public Works
The Public Works Department proposed an operating budget of about $214 million, which included $132,000 in balancing measures.
Public Works Director Chris Sneddon said the department’s balancing measures include shifting the surveyor’s office to focus more on billable work and utilizing in-house resources to reduce outside consulting costs.
Sneddon told supervisors that the department is heading into the next fiscal year with nearly $80 million in planned capital projects, but warned that delays in FEMA reimbursements could slow future work. He added that the department is watching an upcoming federal infrastructure bill that could impact some projects.
The pavement condition index, or PCI, is a 0-to-100 score used to track road condition and help prioritize maintenance.
Board of Supervisors Chair Bob Nelson noted that one of the department’s goals was to keep the PCI at 57, he said down from 58 in recent years. Nelson asked whether the department’s road maintenance funding would be enough to keep the PCI flat in 2026-27.
Sneddon said global events could affect oil prices, which in turn influence the cost of asphalt and other construction materials used in road work.
Nelson asked if the department would give a PCI number that they were comfortable with maintaining, as it had years past.
“We’re relatively comfortable that we can get through this year and see how it goes,” Sneddon said.
Sneddon said that the backlog for road maintenance was likely to increase by 7% over the next year.
Community Services
The Community Services Department proposed a budget of about $58.6 million, which represents a reduction of about $4 million from the current year. County staff said the decrease was largely tied to expiring state and federal grant revenue in housing and community development.
Jesús Armas, the department director, said the department is “focusing very forcefully” on its financial situation, including working to move beyond one-time funding allocations to sustain affordable housing and homelessness efforts.
He said that proposed federal cuts to HUD and Continuum of Care funding could “dramatically alter” the services the department is able to provide.
County documents show the department identified about $1.7 million in reductions, including reduced park services, trail maintenance, sheriff holiday patrols, deferred capital equipment replacement and unfunded maintenance positions.
Armas said the department plans to keep several positions vacant, including two park ranger positions, a three-quarter-time assistant naturalist position and unused positions in the housing and sustainability divisions. He also asked the board to approve the use of deferred maintenance funds to avoid additional cuts to parks maintenance personnel.
When Nelson asked about the deferred maintenance backlog, staff said the department is facing about $76 million in deferred maintenance, including about $30 million tied to asphalt roads and parking lots in county parks.
Planning and Development
The Planning and Development Department proposed a budget of about $27.2 million, balancing its budget without using fund balances for the first time in several years.
Director Lisa Plowman attributed the milestone to an increase in permit revenue, which she said was largely driven by board-approved changes to the department’s fee schedule that improved cost recovery.
However, she said the department still is facing structural pressure from a lack of grant funding for state mandates, which has increased its reliance on the county’s general fund.
She said the department is proposing to leave three vacant positions unfunded, including two in long-range planning and one in petroleum.
Plowman said leaving long-range planning positions unfunded could delay work on board priorities.
Agriculture, Weights & Measures
The Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures proposed an operating budget of $7.7 million, down about $150,000 from the current fiscal year.
Director Jose Chang said the department’s work covers agricultural regulation, pest prevention and consumer protection, including pesticide safety, invasive pest inspections, commercial measuring devices and certified farmers markets.
Chang said the department is facing pressure from changes affecting agricultural export certifications and a contraction in cannabis licensing workload.
He said the department balanced its budget by holding three positions vacant to generate salary savings, while maintaining 36 full-time employees and requesting no service restorations.
Chang said Santa Barbara County currently ranks first in the state with 360 intercepted invasive pests.
He also said the department is on track to inspect all 7,000 permitted commercial weighing and measuring devices across the county.
