Board accepts $13.7 million mid‑year budget adjustments as county workers press for pay; CAO disputes $532M underinvestment claim

Kern County supervisors on Feb. 25 received their mid‑year status report for the fiscal year 2024–25 budget and approved a package of adjustments to recognize roughly $13.7 million in additional discretionary revenue and about $6.5 million in newly identified restricted sources.

County Administrative Office staff told the board the mid‑year increase is primarily from unexpected sales and use tax receipts and reassessments in property tax and realignment receipts. CAO staff proposed a set of mid‑year actions to allocate the funds to maintenance and one‑time needs, to increase appropriations for payroll adjustments and utilities in several departments, and to set aside monies for known future costs such as Heart Flat fire station and an animal services facility.

“ The county budget was adopted on 08/27/2024 and totals 4,400,000,000.0,” CAO staff said in the presentation, and staff later summarized the mid‑year discretionary adjustment as approximately $13.7 million to be applied to projects and contingencies.

Specific mid‑year additions cited in the staff report included: - Establishment of several major‑maintenance projects with capped authorizations: veteran services payment improvements (not…