Supervisors Approve Recommended San Mateo County Budget

From The San Mateo County Manager’s Office: The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors Wednesday approved a recommended two-year budget for Fiscal Years 2017-19 that makes a significant financial investment toward affordable housing and reaffirms the County’s commitment to its most vulnerable populations.

The recommended budget for FY 2017-18 is $2.69 billion with 5, 508 positions. The FY 2018-19 budget is $2.53 billion with 5, 510 positions. Reserves for all funds are $365.6 million — or 15.7 percent — in the first year and $302 million — or 13.5 percent — in the second.

The Board unanimously agreed to the recommended budget after department heads spent the better part of three days outlining their individual budgets and future priorities. The Board will formally adopt the budget in September after considering final revisions and report back items requested during this week’s hearings.

“This budget is a reflection of both our County’s commitment to protecting and improving the quality of life for those who live, work and visit here,” said Board President Don Horsley. “It is also respectful of the commitment to their community taxpayers showed by extending Measure K which allows us to continue providing critical services and programs as well as dedicate 25 percent of that sales tax revenue to affordable housing over the next two years.”

The Board agreed to leave $8 million in Measure K funds unallocated to provide flexibility for future needs, particularly in the face of political and economic uncertainties. Those unknowns also led County Manager John Maltbie to urge the Board to be prudent in its budget decisions.

Major funding items in the FY17-19 budget include: $10 million for correctional health and jail beds for mentally ill inmates; $43.75 million for affordable housing; funding for the first two years of a long-term Capital Improvement Plan expected to approach $500 million; additional staff in the Assessor’s Office to handle a projected 12.3 million square feet of new development over the next three years; and, compliance with new storm water runoff discharge regulations by the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board.

All FY 2017-19 recommended budget documents are available at http://cmo.smcgov.org/fy-2017-19-budget

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