County lays out earlier, more public budget timeline and options for monthly financial snapshots

County staff outlined a modified annual budget timeline designed to deliver earlier financial reporting and to give the Board of Supervisors more time to review departmental requests ahead of the July fiscal-year start.

Deputy CEO Tony Rakes walked supervisors through the county's budget calendar and said staff is shifting midyear reporting earlier in the calendar year to February so the information is timelier for decisionmaking. The schedule Rakes presented includes quarterly consolidated budget adjustments, a February budget kick-off and department budget conferences in March, followed by three public budget workshops in March, April and May and a public hearing and adoption in June.

Rakes said the county also wants to expand department-level budget conferences so the executive office, auditor-controller, and budget team can speak directly with each department to better identify priorities and project needs. He described the conferences as detailed one-on-one reviews that inform the proposed budget and any midyear adjustments.

Multiple supervisors asked staff to develop practical options supervisors can consider in the budget process. Supervisor Williams requested staff prepare tiered options (for example three funding levels) showing what the county could do for roads or other board priorities under different amounts of additional one-time carryforward funding. Transportation staff agreed they can translate several universal funding levels into tangible public benefits (miles of chip seal, added crew positions) provided a dollar figure is available.

Staff described multiple ways to increase transparency: quarterly or monthly CEO reports with narrative context about atypical timing (for example, property tax payments that post at specific collection dates), a public survey to collect community priorities ahead of budget workshops, and the possibility of publishing an automated daily budget snapshot from the county's finance system. County staff said technical scripting can publish live data but cautioned that the numbers are a "snapshot in time," may change as departments post transactions, and require a clear disclaimer so the public understands limitations.

CEO Darcy Antal and others said departments have improved digital budget-to-actual reporting and that a monthly, annotated report or CEO attachment to the CEO report could be feasible while the county pilots more automated public displays. Antal also suggested using the General Government Committee (GGC) as a public forum to explore detailed department-level budget questions and to host invited department deep dives. Several supervisors said they supported directing staff to return with specific options and follow-up materials to inform the spring budget workshops.

Ending: Staff will return to the board with follow-up materials during the February-to-May budget cycle, including options that translate dollar amounts into concrete outcomes and proposals for more regular budget reporting to the public.