Board opens budget study session as departments present $9M gap; administrators urge rightsizing and targeted reviews

Mariposa County’s multi-department budget review on April 15 brought into focus a projected gap of about $9 million on the non–Health & Human Services side of the general fund and prompted calls from administrators and supervisors for a targeted process to reduce expenses without layoffs.

“Public safety and roads are priorities,” Assistant CAO Lee Westerlund told the Board, summarizing the administration’s guiding principles. She and County Administrative Officer Joe Lynch urged a systematic, countywide approach to rightsizing — reallocating staff and other resources where they are most needed, identifying vacancies that could be frozen, examining long-running contracts and special funds, and using those reserves strategically.

Joe Lynch said the county is carrying an approximate $9 million shortfall in non-HHS general-fund expenses and emphasized that the figure would grow if no action is taken. “If nothing changes, you can expect that gap to increase next year,” he said, urging an active administrative approach rather than a series of stand-alone requests. Lynch described a two-part path: use…