El Dorado County supervisors approve $952.3 million budget

EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. - During their meeting Tuesday, the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022-23 Adopted Budget of $952.3 million in governmental fund appropriations.

“This budget continues the Board’s fiscally conservative approach by balancing the needs to be prepared for a recession, while also investing in much-needed compensation increases and security enhancements for our
employees as well as critical services to our community and our partner organizations”, stated Don Ashton, chief administrative officer.

The adopted budget meets all federal and state requirements and all Board-approved budget policies. It fully funds the general fund contingency ($6.75M plus an additional $10M) and general reserve ($11M). The
adopted budget funds most of the departments’ needs that were deferred in the recommended budget and includes total general fund designations, reserves, and contingency equal to 23.35 percent of total general fund
appropriations. This is a significant improvement from FY 2007-08, when the County had just 10.18 percent of adjusted general fund appropriations set aside in advance of the recession from 2008 – 2010 which resulted
in significant service reductions and staff layoffs.

Additional highlights of the adopted budget include:
- $250,000 for security enhancements around government buildings
- $4.2 million to repair road damage caused by the Caldor Fire
- $8 million in additional discretionary revenue for road maintenance and improvements
- $225,821 for the creation of a vegetation clearance program along roadways and County owned property
- $550,000 in the Office of Wildfire Preparedness and Resilience
- $5.8 million to support essential equipment needs for local fire districts and support the EMS System.

Fiscal Year 2021-22 year-end books closed on September 2, 2022. State law requires approval of the adopted budget no later than October 2, 2022.