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County office presents and moves to adopt proposed 2026'27 budget totaling $182.7 million
Summary
Steve Horace outlined the Santa Barbara County Office of Education's proposed adopted budget for 2627, describing revenue shifts after the governor's May revision, a $10 million net revenue decrease driven by child development fund adjustments, and assumptions for labor and benefits; the board discussed program-transfer timelines and approved the budget.
Steve Horace, associate superintendent for administrative services, presented the proposed adopted budget for fiscal year 2627 and explained the county office's unique revenue mix and timelines. He said the overall budget is $182.7 million with roughly 78% of expenditures for student support services and called attention to differences between COE and district budgets (a smaller share of unrestricted LCFF funding at about 17% for the COE versus a larger share for districts).
Horace described revenue movements following the governor's May revision: a $16.5 billion upward state revenue adjustment at the top level but an SBCEO projected net decrease of roughly $10 million versus estimated actuals, primarily because of child development fund timing and multiyear grant adjustments. He added that statutory COLA (2.87%) was applied to categorical programs and LCFF received a 4.31% "super COLA" but that the county's smaller LCFF share reduces the net local impact of that increase.
On expenditures, Horace discussed multi-year collective bargaining adjustments in the third year of agreements and estimated employer health-benefit cost increases; he also described facility reserve uses for capital work and the schedule for interim budget updates. Trustees asked several questions about special education program transfers, reductions in classroom placements at specific sites and the timeline for districts to request program transfers; staff explained the new SELPA notice schedule and that district program transfer notices are due by November 2026 for implementation in July 2028.
The presentation preceded a set of routine approvals tied to budgeted programs; the budget was adopted by the board in a later action during the same meeting.
