County budget balances fiscal challenges with services

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted a balanced $9.16 billion budget for fiscal year 2026-27, approving a spend­ing plan that maintains core services, responds to rising community needs, and provides fiscal stability to manage uncertainties at the state and federal levels.

The new budget is effective July 1. It increases spending by $522 million, or 6.1%, over the cur­rent year and also includes 20,389.25 staff years, a net increase of 109.

The plan reflects the County’s year‑round fi­nancial strategy, which maintains a balanced budget, healthy reserves and long‑term stability. It ensures the County can meet today’s needs while positioning it to meet the needs of the re­gion well into the future.

“I think it’s a pretty extraordinary budget,” Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer said. “It pro­tects the core services that San Diegans count on — public safety, fire, emergency response, behavioral health, health care food assistance, homeless services, veterans’ services, parks and libraries, arts, roads and the day-to-day work of our County government.

“This is a responsible budget,” Lawson-Remer continued, “it’s a balanced budget; I think it’s a visionary budget, and is a budget built for the moment we are in.”

Joan Bracci, the County’s Assistant Chief Administrative Officer-Chief Financial Officer, presented the budget item at Thursday’s Board meeting. Bracci said the budget was the product of year-round planning working with numerous groups, including the Board of Supervisors, Coun­ty departments, the public and stakeholders. She said it not only aimed to ensure the County’s financial stability and flexibility into the future, but to also “provide programs and services that make meaningful differences to residents in every corner of this County.”

“This budget is driven by our values … It makes our region a better place to live, work and play” Bracci said.

Officials said that in addition to being balanced, the budget responds to the region’s needs. It ex­pands critical safety net services, strengthens behavioral health and public health support. It invests in public safety and fire protection, roads, parks, libraries and community spaces.

The budget also advances sustainability through open space and agricultural preserva­tion, renewed regional collaboration in the Tijua­na River Valley, and greener building practices. It protects vital resources for future generations while preparing the County to navigate an evolv­ing and uncertain environment.

Each year, the County crafts its Five-Year Fi­nancial Forecast to ensure the County’s long-term structural financial stability. This year, leaders emphasized that a combination of flattening intergovernmental revenues, increased service demands, and the rising cost of doing business required careful, thoughtful and strategic choices. More information about the budget process is on budget.sandiegocounty.gov.

To balance the budget, the County reduced costs, implemented new efficiencies, shrunk its facilities footprint and shifted staff to priority services.

The County’s recommended budget, released May 18 and revised in June, incorporated feed­back from surveys, open houses, virtual and in-person forums, and an 11-day public comment period.

County services reach nearly all 3.3 million San Diego County residents — across 18 cities and its 18 federally recognized tribes, and in unincorpo­rated communities — through public safety, food and financial assistance, public and behavioral health, and use, libraries parks, animal services, elections, inspections and more.

The budget reflects close collaboration with community members, the Board of Supervisors and its ad hoc subcommittees to:

Bolster public safety and meet Proposition 36 responsibilities.

Expand behavioral health care, establishing Behavioral Health as a standalone County de­partment for the first time.

Maintain investments in homelessness re­sponse, public health, infrastructure, libraries and parks.

Address environmental and public health con­cerns stemming from the Tijuana River Valley pollution crisis.

Highlights from the Adopted Budget

Behavioral Health

• $1.4 billion in behavioral health spending, including:
• Housing Interventions – $88 million
• Provides a full continuum of housing to ensure people are sheltered while receiving treatment and support services. This includes a Flexible Housing Pool pilot as part of the new Transitional Rent benefit that will strengthen long-term hous­ing stability.
• Residential & Long-Term Care — $176 mil­lion
• Provides behavioral health treatment and 24-hour support in a structured, therapeutic set­ting for people needing a higher level of care.
• BH CONNECT Implementa­tion —Adding $47.3 million
• Expands community-based behavioral health care through evidence-based programs that support children and adults with complex conditions.
• Substance Use Treatment for Adults — Adding $23 million
• Enhances the network of substance use services and supports, including narcotic treatment programs and a new chemical dependency recovery program.
• Behavioral Health Work­force — $15.2 million
• Supports development and retention of a skilled public behavioral health workforce through the ELEVATE Fund and training and technical as­sistance for small, diverse com­munity-based organizations.
• Community Engagement and Network Support — $14.4 million
• Strengthens community engagement and supports pro­viders through technical assis­tance, ensuring meaningful in­volvement of all 29 state‑identi­fied stakeholder groups (BHSA) in shaping behavioral health work in the region.
• Behavioral Health Wellness Campus — Adding $12.7 mil­lion
• Supports the design and de­velopment of the new integrated campus on County-owned prop­erty that will offer a continuum of mental health and substance use treatment and support­ive services. The County was awarded a $99.5 million state behavioral health grant for this project in March 2026.
• Crisis Residential Treat­ment— Adding $9.6 million
• Increases capacity within community-based crisis care settings that offer step down care along with diversion from unnecessary hospitalization.
• Behavioral Health Facilities — Adding $3.5 million
• Supports facility improve­ments to develop new Children’s Crisis Residential Care and Substance Use Recovery Treat­ment Services programs funded through State grant funds.
• Child & Youth Behavioral Health — Adding $2 million
• Prioritizes early interven­tion, outpatient, residential treatment, and crisis stabiliza­tion care to ensure children and youth have access to care.
• In-Home Outreach Teams — Adding $1.1 million
• Connects people with seri­ous mental illness who haven’t engaged in services to care.

Environmental

Sustainability

• Regional Watershed Protec­tion & Ocean Pollution Preven­tion — $25.6 million
• Supports watershed protec­tion efforts that reduce ocean pollution and promote clean beaches, healthy ecosystems and safe drinking water.
• Waste Diversion, Emissions Reduction & Closed Landfill Management — $25 million

This abbreviated and edited story is reprinted courtesy San Diego County Office of Commu­nications.