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Finance committee says audits are current priority as sheriff contract squeezes reserves
Summary
Finance committee chair George Savage told the Portola Valley Town Council the town has a balanced budget but faces a longer‑term structural deficit driven largely by rising costs in the sheriff public‑safety contract; the committee prioritized clearing an audit backlog and shoring reserves in 2026.
George Savage, chair of the Portola Valley Finance and Audit Committee, told the Town Council the committee’s top immediate priority is completing delayed independent audits and correcting accounting categorization errors that accumulated during the pandemic. “Thanks primarily to Tony’s diligent work, we now have a balanced budget,” Savage said, adding that corrected bookkeeping should let subsequent audits proceed quickly.
Savage listed three objectives for 2026: finish the outstanding audits, continue tight budget management and address a longer‑term structural deficit. He said the town is on track to complete the 2022–23 audit next month and expects 2023–24 and 2024–25 audits to follow in rapid succession.
The committee singled out the town’s public‑safety contract with the sheriff’s office as a major ongoing expense. Savage attributed much of the county‑level increase to how overhead and fractional costs are now allocated. “The way overhead is allocated to towns like ours . . . really piled on a lot of cost,” he said, and added that state mandates and inflation‑driven cost increases have also reduced reserves.
Council members asked the committee to focus negotiation and review efforts on the sheriff contract and on deferred capital improvements. Savage said renegotiation or service‑level adjustments are the most likely levers for relief but cautioned there may be limited near‑term options.
Finance director Tony McFarland and council liaison Craig Taylor were named by the committee as key staff partners in the audit work and budget monitoring. The council thanked the committee for its work and signaled support for further review of the sheriff contract and capital‑maintenance tradeoffs as staff and the committee prepare budget priorities for the coming year.
The town approved the evening consent agenda earlier in the meeting by motion and voice roll‑call.
Next steps: the committee will continue to work with town staff and external auditors to clear the backlog and will report potential approaches to contain public‑safety costs during the council’s upcoming budget priority sessions.
