EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. – When the final budget comes back to the Board of Supervisors for approval, it will have between $12M and $15M in cuts. The exact number won’t be known until it is adopted on September 30, 2025. The $1.04 billion budget is balanced.

Staff started working on the budget last November, and it has been discussed at the Board level since January.

“Despite a decrease in discretionary General Fund revenues and an increased demand from the State in the form of unfunded/underfunded State mandates, the Recommended Budget reflects a countywide effort to conserve General Fund costs where possible without any reduction in services to the public,” said the county’s Chief Administrative Officer Tiffany Schmid.

The budget fully funds the General Fund Contingency of $7.85 million to provide resources in the event of unforeseen fiscal issues and a General Reserve of $13 million to provide resources in the event of significant emergency situations. The Recommended Budget also adds $1 million to the Designation for IT Infrastructure
and $142,172 to the Disaster Expenses Designation, to fully meet the Budget Policy Goals for both designations. Additionally, the policy goal of maintaining at least two years’ worth of CalPERS UAL cost increases is fully met. The Recommended Budget misses the Board’s policy goal of contributing $5 million of discretionary revenues to road maintenance by $100,000, but is expected to meet that goal when the final budget is adopted in the fall. The budget falls short of meeting the goal of adding $6 million annually to a designation for Capital Projects, but does include $1.5 million set aside for the replacement of the Spring Street facility, which houses several Health and Human Services programs.

Supervisor Brooke Laine, who represents District V, has not agreed with the other supervisors during the budget process, but did vote for last week’s budget because it was balanced. She has been the “nay” vote until now and said, “I am not happy with how we got there.”

In February, Laine objected to the cuts of third-party agencies. For example, the chambers of commerce had been doing tourism outreach for the county for 20 years, and the other four supervisors cut them completely instead of gradually decreasing support over a few years. Laine said she didn’t disagree with the cuts, but disagreed with how they got there.

The other supervisors voted to move the tourist occupancy tax (TOT) revenue into the General Fund, instead of keeping it as discretionary funding as it was.

“What we generate, we should get back in services, as the impact from tourism is real,” said Laine. “I will still fight for that philosophy.”

In last year’s budget, the recommended budget specific to the use of Discretionary Transient Occupancy showed the unincorporated portion of El Dorado County in the Basin getting more of its fair share – $7,199,886. That year, $11M in TOT was anticipated to be collected in the Lake Tahoe Basin portion of the county, so $7.2M was the biggest chunk ever given back to the area that collected it for roads, services, fire and ambulance, and staffing. Laine analyzed several years’ worth of historical distribution of TOT. Based on that analysis, the Basin received between 25-28 cents back in services for every $1 of TOT collected. In the new budget, the county estimates discretionary TOT will be reduced by 23 percent in 2025-2026.

Laine said she doesn’t want District V to have to battle for funds, and has plans for the next budget and has thrown her hat in the ring for reelection to try and make it happen.

“I want us to take back some power and control,” Laine of TOT staying in the Lake Tahoe Basin to address the impacts of tourism.

The Board has directed that staff work to develop 5 percent and 10 percent budget reduction scenarios for the development of the FY 2026-27 Budget. To view the budget, visit HERE. Budget presentation to the board can be found HERE.