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San Benito LAFCO approves FY 2025–26 budget after trimming in-person counsel funds
Summary
The commission approved a FY 2025–26 budget with a modest overall decline, agreeing to reduce the line for regular in-person attendance by legal counsel and rely on contingency if in-person attendance is needed.
The San Benito County Local Agency Formation Commission approved its proposed fiscal year 2025–26 budget on April 10 after commissioners agreed to trim the portion allocated for routine in-person attendance by legal counsel.
Jennifer, the LAFCO executive officer, presented a line-item review of the draft budget and recommended maintaining most service and supply allocations while adjusting some contingency and travel-related items. She said the proposed budget represents about a 3.1% decline from the current year.
Key items Jennifer described include technical support and web maintenance (website hosting at $500 per month and separate email accounts at about $15 per month), membership dues to the California Association of LAFCOs, and legal notices that average roughly $340 per posting. She recommended $3,000 for conference registration and suggested increasing travel/mileage to $1,500 to cover airfare for commissioners if needed because the conference will be in San Diego.
On legal counsel, Jennifer described a recommended budget range to allow for counsel attendance if the commission desired: "If the commission desires, this would be where we would budget for [counsel] to attend meetings. If not, then we can bring it back down to what's been budgeted in previous years." Commissioners debated whether routine in-person attendance for counsel was necessary. One commissioner suggested reducing the additional allocation and covering any shortfall from contingency funds if counsel needed to attend in person for a particular meeting.
Jennifer also reviewed the LAFCO consultant services contract (the consultant cap was listed near $133,000, with unspent amounts reserved for municipal service reviews and sphere of influence work), a county GIS membership charge that had an unexpectedly larger bill and a recommended modest increase to $2,600, and a contingency reserve available for unanticipated expenditures. She explained a cost allocation plan showed a credit to LAFCO for the current year and that board clerk support continues to be a funded item.
Public comment included a resident asking about CalPERS impacts on retiree medical insurance after a recent staff retirement; Jennifer said line 645.704 of the proposed budget addresses retiree medical and CalPERS payments and that she would investigate further the potential impact.
Commissioners then voted on a motion to approve the budget with the friendly amendment to reduce the additional allocation for routine in-person legal counsel (keeping counsel funding closer to prior years and relying on contingency if counsel attendance becomes necessary). The motion passed unanimously, 4-0.
The approved budget retains funding for web and administrative services, training and travel buffers for the conference, the consultant services cap, modest account balances for legal notices and mapping reviews, and a contingency fund. Jennifer said she will follow up on the CalPERS / retiree medical inquiry raised during public comment.
