Budget Hearing Getting Underway In Calaveras County

Amanda Folendorf, Martin Huberty, Benjamin Stopper, Gary Tofanelli, and Jack Garamendi

San Andreas, CA — The proposed fiscal year 2023/24 General Fund budget for Calaveras County government is $71.8 million, an increase of 11.2% from the previous year.

The preliminary budget must be approved ahead of July 1st, so a budget hearing will be the primary item at today’s Calaveras Supervisors meeting that begins at 9 am at the government center in San Andreas.

A memo from Calaveras CEO Teresa Hitchcock states, “The past few years have been an extraordinary time for the County. Last year, through a multi-phase mitigation plan, your Board worked to reduce a structural deficit in the General Fund from $9.4 million to $4.3 million. The Recommended Budget further reduces the deficit by $2.1 million with the intention to eliminate the deficit over the next three years by focusing on 1) revenue growth and recovery, 2) creating a 5-year capital improvement plan, and 3) improving operational efficiencies.”

Hitchcock continues, “The Recommended Budget proposes to use one-time fund balance to close the FY 2023-24 budget gap of $2.2 million to minimize to the extent possible service level impacts. However, eliminating the deficit over the next three years may require our community to cope with reduced service levels in some areas.”

The county supervisors will hear a detailed presentation from staff, allow department heads to weigh in, hear from interested community members, and then give Hitchcock any additional direction ahead of voting on the spending plan. Supervisor meetings are open to the public.