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San Benito supervisors direct CEO to return with interim budget after sheriff warns of patrol staffing ‘house of cards’
Summary
Facing a wave of deputy departures the sheriff described as risking daytime patrols, the board directed the CEO to return June 30 with an interim 2026–27 budget that incorporates a temporary staffing‑freeze proposal and retention incentives. The vote was 4–0.
Sheriff Taylor told the Board of Supervisors on June 24 that San Benito County’s sheriff’s office has lost several sworn deputies in the past year and is now facing additional departures that could force the county to cancel daytime patrols.
“I have three more in the process of leaving and I have two more on extended leave pending termination,” Taylor said. “If I lose any more people, we’re not going to be able to police the community correctly.”
Taylor described an operational squeeze that has forced the office to pull investigators back to patrol and leave some jail functions understaffed. He proposed a short‑term package that would freeze funding for several vacant positions within the sheriff’s office and reallocate roughly $788,000–$950,000 in payroll savings into a benefits/medical contribution and other retention incentives intended to keep deputies from leaving. He said the plan would use money already allocated to the sheriff’s office rather than request a new general‑fund appropriation.
CEO Bara Gor Warren and HR staff presented preliminary cost models showing the freeze of five to six vacant positions could cover a medical‑contribution benefit (estimated at about $318,000 in the staff example), one‑time retention bonuses (roughly $322,000 for the sheriff’s office in the model presented) and modest longevity or lateral‑transfer credits (about $95,000 in the staff estimate). Warren emphasized the plan must be negotiated with bargaining units and framed as temporary until the final year‑end numbers are known.
Supervisors responded with broad support for immediate retention steps while noting the long‑term fiscal tradeoffs. “This is a crisis in our sheriff’s office with patrol staffing — we have to make this our top priority in this budget,” Supervisor Cosmiki said, backing hiring bonuses and a night‑shift differential discussed previously.
Union representatives and deputies urged the board to act. Tyler Casillas, vice president of the deputy sheriffs association, said the office has already lost six sworn personnel since December 2025 and could lose more by September. Detective Jeremy Sadino described cases where limited staffing stretched response capacity and investigators’ workloads.
After discussion and staff presentations on the technical and accounting constraints, the board voted 4–0 to direct the CEO to return to the board on June 30 with a proposed interim 2026–27 budget that incorporates the board’s comments, the sheriff’s retention proposals and staff‑provided cost scenarios. The board asked that the item include precise numbers, documentation of the proposed freezes, and a mechanism to trigger reconsideration of frozen positions once they are filled.
What’s next: Staff will finalize the projected interim budget and present a resolution on June 30 that will include the sheriff’s options, the technical budget rollup and recommended implementation steps if the board approves them.
