Trinity County presents balanced FY2025–26 budget after multi-year adjustments

County staff presented a proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget for Trinity County totaling $150,910,034, a 4.4% increase over the prior year, and described measures taken to stop last year’s deficit spending and move toward structural balance.

Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Tuthill opened the hearings by summarizing last year’s efforts to trim spending and pursue new revenue streams and grants. “We’ve made significant adjustments, and we’re not doing deficit spending anymore,” Tuthill said during the presentation.

The proposal funds routine county operations, debt service and projects, and includes a plan to continue paying down liabilities. County Auditor Craig Goodman told the board the total county budget is $150,910,034 and noted one‑time transfers and internal accounting treatments that affect visible totals. Goodman said that, after eliminating transfers that remain in the treasury, about $103 million remains to fund county operations, of which $49.7 million is salaries and benefits.

Why it matters: County leaders said the budget reflects two years of work to realign service levels to available revenue, to protect public safety staffing, and to preserve mandated services such as public health, environmental health and social services. The CAO emphasized that the budget is “better positioned” than the prior year but not yet at the service level staff would prefer.

Key details - Revenue and totals: The CAO and auditor described $27.7 million in general fund revenue (fund 101), with taxes representing roughly half of that source. When combined with the sheriff’s fund, general‑fund‑equivalent revenues increase to about $31.2 million. The county is budgeting $1.4 million of fund balance to balance the general fund portion of the proposed budget; about $580,000 of that is contingency. - Salaries and benefits: Salaries and benefits account for the largest share of county spending. The budget shows $49.7 million across the county for wages and benefits, with $11.4 million of that charged to the general fund. The CAO and auditor noted prior multi‑year compensation adjustments and minimum‑wage increases as drivers of prior increases. - Debt and long‑term liabilities: The auditor told the board that Trinity County will complete the last payment on its bonded debt this fiscal year, which will leave the county without bonded borrowings; he noted the county still carries hospital‑related negative cash balances and pension (UAL) and OPEB liabilities. The budget proposes a $150,000 contribution to the county’s PARS OPEB trust to continue reducing long‑term retiree liabilities. - Transfers and special revenues: The presentation reiterated that “transfers” in the budget reflect moving money among county funds (for example, special revenue backfills) rather than money leaving the treasury. The auditor explained the county’s practice of holding and transferring earmarked funds to preserve compliance with funding restrictions.

Discussion and next steps The board discussed the balance of discretionary and non‑discretionary revenue and the continuing need to find new revenue sources if service levels are to be increased. CAO Tuthill reminded supervisors that any increases to discretionary programs would need offsetting decreases elsewhere. By the close of discussion, supervisors signaled support for bringing the proposed budget back for final adoption with no board‑directed changes to the presented draft.

Ending note: County staff recommended continued focus on the county’s five‑year strategic plan and on maintaining the service levels already funded; they also flagged uncertainty from pending state and federal budget actions that could affect revenue and program requirements.