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Los Angeles County opens four‑day departmental budget presentations, boards hear tight fiscal outlook
Summary
The Board of Supervisors opened a four‑day series of FY26–27 departmental budget presentations focused on transparency reforms, clustered briefings and difficult choices amid federal and state funding changes; department heads highlighted major unmet needs including a requested county match for CalFresh, elder nutrition shortfalls, and deferred maintenance at cultural institutions.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 12 opened the first of four days of departmental budget presentations, a revised format the acting chief executive officer said was designed to make fiscal materials easier to follow and encourage public engagement. The CEO described standardized six‑page presentations organized by service clusters and pointed viewers to a new county budget overview video at ceo.lacounty.gov/budget.
Several department heads used the panel to lay out fiscal pressures and targeted requests. Jackie Contreras, director of the Department of Public Social Services, said DPSS administers more than $6 billion in department funds and that the department's net county cost portion is about $849 million (roughly 14% of its budget). DPSS requested a gross appropriation of $329 million for FY26–27, of which $140 million would be net county cost. Contreras said three major unmet needs are (1) funding the county share of the CalFresh cost shift, (2) right‑sizing the General Relief program and (3) restoring losses from Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) theft. She warned that without funding for the county CalFresh match, the county could lose additional state and federal dollars, estimating downstream impacts in the hundreds of millions.
Brandon Nichols, director of the Department of Children and Family Services, framed his presentation around prevention and equity, reporting that the county had reduced the overall foster population from around 18,000 to roughly 11,000 children but acknowledged that disproportionality for Black children remains a serious challenge. Nichols said a new tiered rate structure under consideration at the state level could bring revenue changes in 2027 but is contingent on full state funding.
Maral Caracoucian, director of the Department of Aging and Disabilities, said the department faces increasing demand while COVID‑era nutrition program funds have been spent down. She estimated a $9.8 million shortfall for the elder nutrition program to maintain current service levels, and described work to pursue state funding sources, managed care partnerships and a county Aging and Disability Resource Center designation.
Board members pressed departments on hiring freezes, service delays and how state or federal policy shifts could affect county operations. Many supervisors urged continued focus on prevention, cross‑department coordination, and advocacy for state relief.
The meeting closed with extensive public comment, notably several dozen speakers urging the board to maintain existing contracts for the GAIN (Greater Avenues for Independence) program in Regions 2 and 7 and warning that abruptly bringing the work inside county operations could disrupt services and result in higher costs and staff displacement. The Board received and filed the reports and scheduled further hearings across the multi‑day series.
The next round of departmental budget presentations resumes Feb. 13 at 9:00 a.m.
