Napa County proposes $967 million FY2025–26 budget, board continues hearing to June 17

Napa County Chief Executive Officer Alsop on Monday presented the Board of Supervisors with a $967,000,000 recommended budget for fiscal year 2025–26, calling it balanced while warning state and federal uncertainties could affect county revenues. The board opened a public hearing on the proposal and continued the hearing to June 17 for further public comment and review.

The recommended budget maintains county reserve levels and includes several major investments. “The recommended $967,000,000 budget is balanced,” County CEO Alsop said at the start of the presentation. It preserves a strong reserve level, funds nearly $30 million in road and bridge work to resurface roughly 25 miles of road, sets aside money for workspace expansion tied to a new jail, funds acquisition of Camp Coombs in Skyline Park, and includes funding for a new behavioral health treatment center. The plan also funds a new three‑year agreement with CAL FIRE and “continues investing millions of dollars in wildfire prevention work,” Alsop said.

Why it matters: county leaders said the budget tries to protect core services while responding to rising costs and uneven revenue. Staff noted sales and transient occupancy taxes are not meeting expectations and the state faces a large budget shortfall that adds uncertainty to intergovernmental funding. The county is also responding to growing costs for employee compensation, jail operations, liability insurance and other pressures.

Finance staff said the county’s recommended general fund budget is $341 million and that overall appropriations across all funds total $967 million (excluding special districts, which will be presented separately on June 17). The budget continues compensation increases approved with bargaining units, including increases for IHSS providers, and includes an estimated $33 million in general‑fund transfers to the Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA).

HHSA director Jennifer Yasamoto told supervisors that the $33 million transfer is “a well‑spent investment” and detailed pressures on local social‑service systems. She highlighted rising IHSS provider wages (now $20.50 per hour after prior board action), increasing administrative costs to run IHSS, a roughly 26% increase in IHSS recipients over two years, and mounting behavioral‑health costs tied to shortages of inpatient beds. “We are increasingly relying upon dollars that just aren’t there,” Yasamoto said, describing how capacity shortfalls and payment rates for residential behavioral health can leave counties covering costs.

Staff also proposed changes to reserves: general reserves would rise to about $66 million and staff recommend adding $10 million specifically labeled for fiscal uncertainty to address volatility in state and federal support. Estimated available general‑fund beginning balance is roughly $56 million; staff estimated available fund balance at the end of FY26 at about $10.4 million after planned uses and the reserve adjustments. Staff emphasized the budget is conservative and that actual appropriations are rarely fully spent.

Supervisors raised questions about the size and sustainability of the plan. Supervisor Ramos noted the budget shows a year‑over‑year increase in all‑fund spending of roughly $43.9 million while general‑fund revenues grow far less, and asked staff to explain how the county is complying with its own budget policy that says operating expenditures should not exceed operating revenues on average. Staff replied that transfers out (about $70 million) are not counted as operating expenses and that the recommended budget uses estimated fund balance but that historically the board has not spent the full level of authorized appropriations. Other supervisors asked for more breakdowns and percent‑change displays to make trends clearer.

Other details: the budget includes nearly $3.5 million for county wildfire mitigation partnerships, a $20.5 million update to the CAL FIRE service agreement, and roughly $3.3 million planned for equipment replacement in the fire budget. Auditor‑controller staff and executive‑office budget staff noted the county received the Government Finance Officers Association Distinguished Budget Presentation award for the previous fiscal year. The county also continues to use a budget platform called Gravity to compile the book.

Formal action and next steps: the board opened the public hearing on the FY2025–26 recommended budget and continued the hearing to June 17, 2025, at 9 a.m. for additional comment and the separate review of special districts. Staff said special‑district budgets will be presented tomorrow afternoon and that staff will provide additional clarifications (requested by supervisors) in the follow‑up hearing.

What’s next: staff will return on June 17 for continued hearings on the recommended budget and a separate special‑district presentation; final adoption is scheduled for a later board meeting in June.