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Santa Clara supervisors adopt recommended budget items, refer major pieces for final approval after detailed staff briefings
Summary
The Board of Supervisors on June 15 unanimously approved recommended budget items 5–9 after county leadership described a balanced FY26–27 recommendation and structural deficits caused by federal HR 1 cuts. The board referred several larger items — including immigrant-services funding and behavioral-health allocations — for final action later in the week with staff asked to return with targeted reports.
President Cindy Lee and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Monday adopted key pieces of the county’s FY26–27 recommended budget while flagging several items for further review.
The board voted 5–0 to approve items 5–9 after County Executive James Williams and Budget Director Ezekiel Vega described the amended, structurally balanced recommended budget and the constraints that shaped it. Williams framed the package as a set of painful but necessary choices to respond to the fiscal gap left by federal policy changes known in the hearing as “HR 1.”
"Notwithstanding these challenges, the recommended budget, including the revised recommendations that are in front of the board for the budget hearing is structurally balanced," Budget Director Ezekiel Vega said. He outlined one-time and ongoing adjustments that, together with Measure A revenue and other strategies, narrowed what had been a roughly $787 million gap.
Why it matters: county leaders said the recommended budget preserves many safety-net services but that ongoing federal cuts and an uncertain state response leave Santa Clara facing a multi‑year fiscal challenge. The presentation emphasized three gap‑closing strategies — locally raised Measure A funding, midyear program and revenue changes, and continued state advocacy — and warned of a projected five‑year structural deficit.
What the board did: Supervisor Susan Ellenberg moved approval of items 5–9; Vice President Sylvia Arenas seconded. The clerk recorded a unanimous 5–0 vote. With that action the board adopted the recommended budget framework as revised at the hearing while asking staff to return with additional details where necessary.
What’s next: Several larger or contested line items were pulled for separate consideration and referred for final action at the board’s next meeting. Those include item 15 (immigrant‑services funding), items 28–29 (behavioral health department items), item 26 (Santa Clara Valley Healthcare budget questions) and item 31 (Valley Health Plan budget). For each pulled item the board specified follow-up reporting (see below) before final adoption later in the week.
Key quotes
"We have done this work in the context of an extraordinarily difficult fiscal landscape," County Executive James Williams said, pointing to federal cuts and economic headwinds. "We will need ongoing partnership from the state because the gaps that we are facing are operating dollars that can only be closed with recurring revenue."
Budget Director Ezekiel Vega said the recommended budget includes $95 million in ongoing revenue‑based solutions and described ongoing and one‑time changes that left the general fund in balance for FY26–27.
Board directions and requested follow-ups
- Item 15 (immigrant-related funding): staff to return Thursday with details on the rapid‑response reserve and regional legal strategy (the board kept the full $8.0 million allocation intact while authorizing a portion to remain flexible to meet emerging needs).
- Items 28–29 (behavioral health): the board asked for transition plans and client‑tracking reports connected to clinic closures, a written methodology for school‑based services allocations, and a public‑health update about suicide‑prevention functions moving to that department.
- Item 31 (Valley Health Plan): the board requested reports on the PCAP re‑imagination effort and on members’ access to language‑capable primary care providers.
Outcome: Items 5–9 were adopted 5–0; the other pulled items were referred for final consideration on Thursday with staff directed to provide the requested reports.
