The Merced County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a $1.23 billion budget for the 2026-27 year – an increase from last year’s available funds.
Merced County Assistant County Executive Officer David Mirrione presented the final budget adjustments at last week’s Board of Supervisors meeting.
The county will work with department directors to determine any outstanding vacancies and consider eliminating them in an attempt to prevent future layoffs. There will be a decrease of four county employee positions in the next year.
“We are a forever business, and our budgeting needs to reflect this,” Merced County CEO Mark Hendrickson said. “In the end, this isn’t about being overly cautious. It’s about being responsible. Our goal is simple again: to serve our residents well today while maintaining our service delivery opportunities tomorrow.”
This year’s budget has $110 million more than last year’s available funds.
General fund revenue is up $10.6 million from last year. That increase was driven primarily by property tax, said Cesar Vera, a county communications staffer. Meanwhile, the county’s net cost is down $2.6 million.
Departmental revenue grew by $88 million from last year – and that’s because of project revenue, according to county officials. That increase does not represent an increase in funding available for the county to spend at its discretion, Vera said.
“Budgeted revenue can vary substantially between fiscal years because of the timing of grants, reimbursements, capital projects, and multiyear programs,” Vera said.
Of the $153.6 million that the supervisors control, 78% will be used for public safety.
Budget workshop and community comments
In April, county officials hosted a budget workshop for attendees to consider how residents would prioritize the use of discretionary funds. Participants had the opportunity to identify additional priorities and provide feedback.
Multiple residents shared their concerns for affordable housing during public comment at last week’s meeting. They asked the board to match state and federal funding for affordable housing.
“I would also like to request that the board work more strategically with the housing authority to understand resident needs, challenges and funding opportunities related to affordable housing to develop a mitigation plan that would include quarterly meetings, engaging more household developers and advocating to state legislators,” Le Grand resident Irene Cotto said.
District 4 Supervisor Lloyd Pareira voiced his opposition – and reminded residents of the county’s scope to provide services.
“When people come here year after year, budget meeting after budget meeting, and request the same thing – I believe we’re doing what we can. It’s just hard to take as a person. And so if you are interested in going to Sacramento and helping lower the cost of building housing, I’d be happy to join you,” Pareira said.
He requested people to take a look at how much it costs to build affordable housing. He said building affordable housing costs more than regular housing. The county, he said, is spending what they can on preventing homelessness.
County supervisors thanked department leadership for their work on the budget.
“One of the hardest things that I had to learn when I got this job was learning the budget, and then when I kind of learned the budget, which is kind of where I’m at, the second hardest thing is realizing that you can’t solve everybody’s problems,” District 1 Supervisor Jim Pacheco said. “You can’t fix all the roads, can’t build all the parks because that’s what you get elected to do.”
