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San Luis Obispo County facing multimillion dollar budget shortfall

November 24, 2025

By KAREN VELIE

With a looming multimillion dollar budget shortfall, San Luis Obispo County is working on a plan to reduce costs and balance the budget.

SLO County revealed last week it is facing a $4 million to $11 million budget gap for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The county bases its status quo budgets on revenue and costs from the prior year.

However, while revenue is stagnant expenses are climbing.

“The multi-year forecast continues to present a challenging picture as projections indicate that the county will continue to experience constrained revenue growth with expenditures outpacing revenues,” according to the SLO County Board of Supervisors Nov. 18 staff report. “The multi-year forecast highlights the need for reductions through a continued strategic rebalancing as well as sustained ongoing efforts aligned with the board’s adopted policies.”

SLO County’s budget deficit forecast for the 2027-2028 fiscal year climbs to $14.8 million. The forecast budget deficit rises to $18.7 million in fiscal year 2029-2030.

California provides approximately 35% of the county’s general fund operating revenue. Because of current fiscal challenges, the state could cut funding. Another 14% of the county’s operating revenue comes from federal funds, which could also face cuts.

The budget balancing plan includes a hiring freeze, deferring capital improvements, minimizing building maintenance costs and increasing fees.

“Hiring will be strictly limited to positions deemed essential to maintaining core service delivery and strategic priorities,” according to the staff report. “It is important to emphasize that reductions should be based upon priorities, not vacant positions.”

County administrators are conducting a comprehensive review of all county programs across all departments. The plan is to look at program impacts, costs, outcomes, and alignment with board priorities.

The goal is for the county to remain adaptable to changing conditions, to be able to regenerate in the face of setbacks, and to ensure long-term fiscal stability.

In the next few months, department heads will prepare and submit reduced budgets. Administration will review the budgets before providing the SLO County Board of Supervisors an update in March.

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I think a good starting point would be to contract local government to the State so that we can be 100% sure that we are being ripped off thence sub it out to Brazil or some other country that Newsome visits in California’s behalf. Just trying to be as ridiculous as the situation, in another few weeks we’ll be working on tax returns, and nobody enjoys that, reviewing the county’s budget is a full-time job and even they don’t get it right.


0

What is up with the new county buildings built in the past few years in Paso Robles, Atascadero, and the new communications building/tower in Templeton. I believe the buildings are for social services but from what I understand they are not being filled and utilized yo capacity. Does anyone have info on the cost, justification and utilization for these buildings?


2

Monuments to themselves.


All a government (taxpayer funded) employee needs is a cubicle, a phone and sometimes a computer.


No more new government assets, of any kind, until equalizing cuts are made.


Signed,

SLO County over taxed citizen


1

All that expensive bureaucracy, and they can’t see this happening. What a bunch of dummies.


34

And yet were are constantly told we have to pay these “experts” so much to get quality people, past time to try paying a lot less and see how if the quality actually changes.


1

Do not panic! The next 1/2¢ sales tax increase will surely solve all our fiscal problems. Just like all the other 1/2¢ sales tax increases over the last 50 years have…


46

VOTE NO on all tax increases.


DemoNcrat tax and spend efforts have a long track record of NEVER WORKING.


Cut expenses like a regular persons budget or it’s YOUR ASS SLOC BOS!


21

Home prices have increased 50-100% in the last five years in SLO County. Every home that is sold resets its tax basis to the current market value. The county must be swimming in massive amounts of additional property tax revenue. Where is all that extra money going?


72

Again, take a look at Transparent California to see where all the money is going.


48

Am I looking at it wrong? All it shows is salaries – not the top 10-20 spending/ income categories you’d expect from a competent summary any private company would have at their fingertips . Am I missing it, or deliberate obscurifaction?…


15

No, you’re seeing it right.


When taxes in SLO (and California) go up, government employees keep getting higher salaries and larger benefit packages.


Despite every local, county, and state tax increase insisting that it won’t and doesn’t happen.


11

I just looked up SLO County on Transparent. The top 4 listings are police and fire. 4 individuals, salary, OT, Other Pay, benefits, and pension debt total over $2,026,130. That’s 4 dudes, for 1 year. Imagine what the entire public employee sector costs SLO County! Or, STATEWIDE. It’s a ridiculous system. A costly scam, really. LOL, if the pension system fails to generate adequate revenue? Taxpayers made up the difference.


13

Good question. We also need to ask ourselves how much the resets affect the overall affordability of houses. The price of a house is a one-time thing; the high property taxes last forever.


24

Not true. With the voter-passed Proposition 19 a few years ago even MORE people, most of them from out-of-county, can qualify to transfer their low tax base (assessed value) to that home they buy in our county. And they can keep doing it over and over (up to SIX times for a married couple).


0

Here is a suggestion for the Board of Supervisors… Stop subsidizing the SLO County Cannabis Industry from the General Fund and reallocate these tax dollars to your constituents needs/services. The Green Rush promise of high paying jobs, huge tax revenues and a booming new local industry never materialized after 7+ years. Time to pull the plug and stop subsidizing cannabis. Do not use our tax dollars to fund a failed industry in SLO County.


80

Another case of county greed shooting down a decent idea.


-11

Nothing to worry about, the solution is simple just raise taxes like they always do!


29
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