The Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians heard a fiscal update Feb. 7 showing a healthy fund balance but lower-than-historical annual savings because limited-term positions ended and expenditure pressures increased.

Mark Ito, assistant executive officer, presented three documents: an expenditure projection, revenue projections and the board’s fund condition. For fiscal year 2024–25, staff project roughly $24,700,000 in revenue and about $19,100,000 in expenditures, leaving a fund balance that is growing in months in reserve but reducing annual operational savings compared with prior years.

Ito told the board the program previously saved about $1,500,000 annually; the board is now projecting much smaller year‑end savings — he cited a near-term projected reserve reduction (current-year savings down to about $35,000). The shrinkage reflected a two‑year limited‑term appropriation of roughly $500,000 that expired this year; to maintain operations, three positions were reclassified from the licensing unit into education positions at lower pay, which increased expenditures.

Staff identified near-term measures to ease the gap: beginning in March the vendor charge for online credit-card processing (a 2.3% fee) will be passed to applicants rather than absorbed by the board, which Ito estimated would save about $100,000 through the end of this fiscal year and approximately $300,000 in a full year. Staff are also exploring in‑year augmentation mechanisms (for expenses such as Attorney General or Office of Administrative Hearings costs) and plan a fee analysis to assess longer-term adjustments.

Why it matters: Although the fund has a growing months-in-reserve metric, Ito said the board is “structurally imbalanced” because receipts continue to outpace planned expenditures; staff recommended a fee audit to determine whether fee levels should change to keep ongoing operations balanced and sustainable.

Board questions: Members asked about boardwide relief for licensees in the Los Angeles area; Ito confirmed a departmentwide licensing-relief measure has been implemented in the Breeze system to defer renewal payments in affected areas for up to a year and allow voluntary payment.

Ending: Staff said they will return with more detail at a subsequent meeting and pursue the fee‑study and administrative steps to limit near‑term budget risk.