Santa Barbara County is facing some tough budget questions for the next few years. But a proposal to help ease the situation with a sales tax hike has been put on the back burner, at least for now.
A combination of issues has created the potential for major budget shortfalls.
"The projected shortfall for next year's budget, 2026-2027, if all current service levels were maintained, is $23 million across all departments services and funds," said Brittany Odermann, Santa Barbara County’s Deputy CEO. "The forecast anticipates an ongoing cumulative deficit of $66.4 million by fiscal year 2031."
The five-year, $66 million-plus budget shortfall could potentially impact everything from health care programs to emergency services.
"The shortfall is driven by state and federal policy changes and reductions, as well as expenses outpacing available revenue," said Odermann.
So, county officials brought Santa Barbara County Supervisors a plan to help fill the gap with a sales tax increase for unincorporated parts of the county.
It called for a 1% sales tax increase in unincorporated parts of the county, potentially raising about $16 million a year.
The question of how much of a potential budget shortfall the county is facing depends on how much slack it might try to make up for with federal funding cuts.
"We cannot continue to fund everything we're doing, and everything the federal government used to pay for with our limited resources," said Santa Barbara County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino. "It's the federal government's responsibility. Yes, there's a child who's probably not going to get all the services that they need. At the end of the day, that's on the (Trump) administration. They cut the funding. We're going to do our best to try to mitigate that, but we can't fix all their problems."
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Joan Hartmann thinks the county needs to help plug at least some of the gaps created by federal cuts.
"Do we backfill? If not, do we look at ourselves in the mirror? And, if we do, then how?"
Complicating the situation is the fact that the county set aside $50 million for an expansion of its Northern Branch Jail in Santa Maria, as well as millions more in annual operational costs.
County Supervisor Bob Nelson questioned the fairness of creating a new sales tax that would affect only the unincorporated parts of the county, excluding cities like Santa Barbara, Lompoc, and Santa Maria. Nelson pointed out that those residents also use and benefit from some county services.
A poll commissioned by the county showed the tax proposal had enough support for passage.
The idea was to put the tax plan on the June ballot. But the Supervisors took no action on the proposal, in effect killing it for now. County officials now say there is still the ability to put a version of it on the ballot for the November general election.
