The California Privacy Protection Agency on Thursday presented an annual administrative and budget update that detailed staffing, office leasing plans, and funding for the Delete Request and Opt‑Out Platform (DROP) and enforcement infrastructure.

Deputy Director of Administration Von Chidambira told the board the agency has 53 authorized positions — 43 permanent, four temporary and one intern — and that 23 employees were onboarded in the prior year as the agency scaled up. Total expenditures for fiscal year 2024–25 were reported at $14,190,000, Chidambira said, noting accounting books were still closing and figures could be adjusted slightly.

Chidambira said the agency received roughly $3,600,000 from data broker registration and associated penalties in 2025 (about $3,400,000 in registration fees and roughly $170,000 in fines and penalties). The agency also reported a consumer privacy fund balance set at $400,000 for the current fiscal year.

On DROP funding, staff said the budget change proposal (BCP) requested two positions and $4,800,000 over two years to cover development, residency verification, CDT project management, ID verification costs, and operating expenses. A separate BCP requested $700,000 from the consumer privacy fund over two years to build enforcement infrastructure, including data analysis tools.

Chidambira also described facilities plans: the Sacramento office is moving from temporary space at 400 R to a permanent leased site; the lease award and tenant improvements were under review with an anticipated mid‑August 2025 lease signature and a projected move into permanent space in August 2026.

Board members pressed staff on whether the proposed staffing levels are sufficient for DROP and enforcement work. Board Member Worth said he was concerned that two to four dedicated employees for DROP “is not enough people” to run what the board had described as a globally novel one‑stop deletion portal. Chidambira replied that two staff are dedicated now, two more are being recruited, and that ongoing CDT contracts and project management support account for a significant portion of implementation capacity.

Budget totals: staff said the approved budget for fiscal year 2025–26 is $15,770,000 spread across three funds (general fund, data broker registry fund and consumer privacy fund). Chidambira noted a facilities and departmental services line in the general fund and said operating expenses in the data broker fund are concentrated on DROP development, ID verification, and CDT costs.

Why it matters: the expenditure and fee figures indicate how CPPA will fund implementation of statutory programs such as DROP and how much in‑house capacity it plans to have for enforcement and procurement work. Several board members urged staff to pursue further resources for procurement, legal, and enforcement functions.

Ending: Staff said it will continue to refine long‑term expenditure plans and return to the board with additional budget requests and updates as they build the platform and enforcement infrastructure.