Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Sorry?

Good evening, everyone. Gonna call this board of supervisor meeting to order. The date is March 17. The time is 06:33. I'm going to ask everyone to please stand for the pledge of allegiance and then remain standing for the invocation from rabbi Caitlin Bromberg from congregation Beth Shalom.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice. United to

As this meeting begins, we pause to recognize the responsibility carried by those entrusted with public service. In every generation, communities rely on leaders willing to devote their time, judgment and care to the well-being of others. Our tradition offers guidance from the teachings of Rabbi Tarfon, who said, It is not your responsibility to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it. May this wisdom guide the work before this board today. Remind all who serve that the work of building a just and thriving community is never finished.

Yet every thoughtful decision, every act of fairness, every effort toward the common good moves the work forward. Grant these supervisors wisdom to deliberate carefully, patience to listen to the many voices in this county, and courage to pursue what is right even when the path is complex. May their work strengthen the bonds of community, protect the vulnerable, and help this county become a place where all residents can live with dignity, safety, and opportunity. May the efforts made here today contribute to a future of greater peace and well-being for all who call this community home. And let us all say, amen.

Thank you, Rabbi Bromberg. Okay. We're going to move on to presentations. We do have two presentations this evening. The first one is Stan Cogs Regional Transportation Plan Update. Michael Schmidt with Kimberly Horn as well as Gene Faleta from Stan Cog will be presenting.

Good evening Chair and Supervisors. Great. So these are the items I'm gonna cover in our presentation this evening. I'm gonna provide an overview of the regional transportation plan. And then I'm gonna talk about scenario analysis, is where we're at in the study right now.

I'm also gonna connect make a some provide some overview about the connections to several other important STANCOG projects. I'm gonna share how to participate, and then we'll talk about the next steps. So first of all, what is a regional transportation plan and sustainable community strategy? Well, it's basically it's the it intends to reflect the shared vision of the cities and the counties through 2049 transportation and land use. It includes all transportation.

So it includes bike, walking, driving, and aviation. And it reflects it also reflects the fact that we understand that land use really drives transportation. So there's an important underpinning where we really take a close look at land use both today and into the future. And it importantly, it documents compliance with federal and state require requirements, particularly related to air quality. It's a high level planning document, it looks at all of the different projects we have planned and the entirety of the county and all of the cities.

So the plan's got a lot of things it needs to do. First of all, it requires us to prioritize our transportation investments through 2049. It also has to be fiscally constrained. So that basically means the revenue that comes in through various sources must match the amount of money that's going to be expended on transportation. So we've got to make sure there's alignment. It's got to meet federal air quality goals, which is super important, obviously, in the Central Valley. It's gotta comply with environmental justice requirements. It also and this is unique to California, is it also has to meet California greenhouse targets. So the the Air Resource Board sets targets that our plan has to meet. And then it also has to comply with the environmental laws in the state of California, so CEQA.

So a couple of key definitions I'd just like to talk about before we jump into some of the details is there are two there's importantly, there's been a change in the way we evaluate transportation in California. And really, now when we evaluate transportation, a lot of times we're talking about vehicle miles traveled. And it's a simple metric. Really, it's just taking a look at the number of vehicles, how far they drive, and multiplying together to the amount of VMT. And the reason we care about that is it correlates very closely to greenhouse gas emissions.

There's a really close relationship, so the state very much is focused on that. Also, I just want to mention missing middle housing. I just mentioned what middle housing is because it's an important part of the existing plan that we have, and looking forward it is as well. So missing middle housing is really like duplexes, four plexes, townhomes. So kind of between single family and apartments, and that's a that's a form of housing that the the plan includes a fair amount of.

So when we first start the transportation plan, we do a forecast. So we look out to 2049 and say, well, how much, you know, how much growth are we going to experience? And that kind of, obviously, we need to understand that so we know how much what types of transportation improvements we need. And you'll just see that between now and 2024 and 2049, we're forecasting an increase amongst all the cities in the unincorporated part of the county of about 36,000 new folks. And I'll just make the comment that over the last few years, those those those trends have been dropping in the Central Valley and across the state.

The the the forecasts have been coming down. And accompanying that we are also anticipating 24,000 new jobs in the area. And you can see we have kind of also the map, the point of the map is just to highlight that we also think about where those things are happening. So the University of the Pacific takes a forecast and it it places where it thinks those are gonna happen based on conversations with each of the city and the county planning staff. So where we're at in the process is we're now doing something called scenario planning.

And really the idea of this is we work with the community and with staff and other stakeholders in the public to kind of say, well, what future do we want to have? And so we're in that process of looking at different options. There are several kind of key things that we know we want to have, and those is we want to have a job housing balance. We want to have enough jobs for the people who live here. We want to focus transportation in lower BMT areas, keep those greenhouse gases down.

We want to increase access to opportunities, so proximity to shopping and to opportunities and jobs and likewise. We want to preserve farmland. That's an important thing. And then obviously, we want to grow infill areas with the middle housing, which has been a priority that was set in the last regional transportation plan that was passed collectively by the cities and the county. So with this this iteration, like we always do, we have four scenarios. And I'll just say that these maps are just they're kinda hard to read or distance. But really, the point is just kinda looking how they group population, housing kind of. And they're kinda different visions of the future. The first one is what we passed last time or we adopted last time as our vision for the future. It's we call it business as usual.

And it had a focus on that middle housing. So that missing middle housing, more of that. The second alternative we're taking a look at as part of this effort is one where we said, what if we focused more of the new housing around transit? So that's what the second scenario is. The third scenario is, well, let's instead focus it more around where existing jobs are located.

And then the fourth scenario we're looking at is one where we said, well, what if we really leaned into accessory dwelling units, essentially the secondary houses that are located behind single families? And so four distinct scenarios, and we're basically in the process right now of getting public input and stakeholder input about which scenario makes the most sense. And I'll say each one of them come with a transportation element. And so we have an active transportation, bike and pedestrian, with varying levels of intensity. You know, there there is a new introduction of what we call bus rapid transit, so high frequency transit in the Modesto area.

And then there's obviously the voter initiatives related to roadway infrastructure, and that's all included. So there's more details on the website to find out about those and weigh in on it. We're also doing a couple of key studies as part of this. We're we're doing a what we call a community enhancement zone plan. And that's really focusing more on how do we actually take this vision of having more middle housing and implementing it.

So we have an economist. We're looking at two pilot areas, McHenry and Paradise, and doing studies in those areas to see what we can do to facilitate that type of development. We're also studying how can we further mitigate that BMT, so those number of miles that folks drive, what options can we give them? And then we're doing a detailed update on what we call the non motorized plan, but it's basically a bike and ped study to make sure we're prioritizing the right infrastructure that the community wants. So there's lots of opportunities for input.

There's a steering committee, the Valley Vision Steering Committee, which is representative of the planning staff from the cities and the county. We're obviously doing presentations similar to this at all the cities and county as well. We have meetings with the planning staff. We have several key focus group meetings. So we're gonna meet with community based organizations, business leaders, and we're doing it in multiple languages. And then we've got a website where we have a lot of information where you can find out a lot more about everything we're doing, and you can also participate in surveys. And there's interactive maps. So lots of great information on that website. In terms of next steps, we're gonna continue outreach. We're gonna select a preferred scenario amongst those four scenarios.

Basically, Stancog will make a recommendation, the VBS or our steering committee, and then the policy board, which again represents the cities and the county, will select one and then approve the regional transportation plan. And that will happen in June. We'll actually have the approval of the scenario in April, and then the plan will be approved in June, and it'll be open for public comment through August. And as you can see, we've got a lot of pop ups and city council meetings going and a lot of different outreach. So thank you very much for your time.

So, Michael, one quick question for you. You talk about the bike ped, but we've had discussions at the COG before about truly connecting communities, meaning Turlock to Waterford to Houston and Patterson to Modesto, not just Patterson to Newman. And whose responsibility is that? Does that come out of the regional transportation plan or does that have to be through the COG or some other mechanism?

Great question. Actually, that's a critical focus of what we're doing right now. You've characterized it right, that really Stancock's job is to kind of look at those bigger connections of the most important big facilities. And so we've actually done a lot of work on that and we've actually had multiple meetings with Stancock as an advisory committee that just focuses on bike and pedestrian to get their input in that. And so there's actually going to be a draft of that put out very soon. It will be on the website. You will be able to see all the major connections that we are considering as potential options between different communities to kind you know, that are all types of different facilities to really kind of meet that need because we know that's concern. And then the ultimate goal is to prioritize that and go out for funding and try to get them constructed.

Okay. Any questions for Michael? All right. Thank you again. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. Thanks, Gene. Okay. We're going to go on to the next presentation, presentation number two, Sutter Memorial Foundation update. And Tim Waffa, Gould Medical Group president. Did I say that right?

Yes. Thank you very much, chairman and supervisors for your time tonight. I'm here to speak to you about, Gould Medical Group, which is your, let's see if I can get the slides to work. Sorry. Basically your Stanislaus County's medical group since 1945. A little bit about me, Tam Woff, I've been with Sutter Gould for about twenty years here living in Modesto. I'm an anesthesiologist. I've done different leadership roles with the group. I was elected as the CEO and President recently. So I thought I'd come and give county supervisors a little bit of primer on who Gould Medical Group is.

Founded in 1948, it was the first multi specialty medical group actually in Northern California. These two brothers trained at the Mayo Clinic and when they saw integrated healthcare they thought that's the good way to practice and they brought that back to Modesto. The reason they ended up in Modesto is interesting is because one of them married a lady from RIPET and her father was the first physician in the area. His name was Ned Gould. So the group is named after the father-in-law of one of the founders.

We're also one of the first groups to have a female physician as partner. In 1948, Evelyn Maman was a prominent part of the group. A little bit about the history, I discussed already Ned Gould. There's some pictures of the early days. The bottom picture there is actually McPheders Hospital. That was one of the first hospitals in Modesto. Actually, where the DoubleTree Hotel is right across from there, course. That was the founding hospital for the town. Rippon Hospital is a picture above, was a small hospital in Rippon that burnt down and then Ned Gould moved the hospital down to Modesto. Started with five physicians and now we have five sixty.

So quite a bit of growth. We had one care location in 1948. Now we have 41 total that includes both Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. And in 1986, we formed the foundation model in 1993, we became part of the Sutter Health. 1955 was a big year in the history of Gould Medical Group. We had 16 physicians and built a building on 600 Coffee Road, moved out of downtown. The outfit was outfitted for 50 physicians, so they planned a lot of growth and had all the things you'd need at that point. These are the current services that are available in Stanislaus County. It's an extensive list. Essentially you can get any type of medical care that the average person would need.

And since we're part of an integrated healthcare system, so things like transplant surgery are very complicated things we do send out, but essentially most things that a person would need are here in town. This is our service area. We've been growing quite a bit, as I mentioned. We have five forty clinicians. This year we're going to be at 600 plus.

We're hiring about 88 physicians and nurse practitioners PAs in 2026. We have 1,400 employees that are non physicians in the foundation. So quite a big workforce, as well as of course Memorial Medical Center has another 5,000 employees as well. The vision is for the group to keep growing by 2029. We want to be at about 900 plus clinicians and have 46 care centers.

Some of the contributions that Gould physicians have made over the years, this is Doctor. Wernick. He started the county's EMS program, paramedic program, 1974. This before him there was no paramedic program and the ambulance services were then were set up and trained by him. We were instrumental in finding Memorial Medical Center. The founding of that hospital occurred in 1971. It was actually a collaboration between, the, healthcare organization here and the physicians. So today where are we at? You see the clinician growth. We are very committed obviously to this region.

This is our home. So we want to really grow here and increase the depth and breadth of our services in Stanislaus County. We're also, as we grow, we're growing with the eye on what the community needs. We need more obstetricians, so we're hiring more obstetricians. We need specialized cancer physicians like gynecologic oncologists.

We need specialized stroke physicians, so we're hiring neuro interventionalists that can go in and fish out a clot from someone who just had a stroke. So we really base our growth needs on what the community needs are. So if we see that the community's aging and they're having more health issues in one area versus the other, that's where we we tend to recruit. We also do quite a bit of community service. I'm gonna hit on a few highlights.

We have our philanthropy organization which actually contributes directly to many different causes, but specifically I want to call out the scholarships. Every year we give $510,000 scholarships to people from Stanislaus and San Joaquin Counties. This year's recipient, three of them were from Stanislaus County. They're studying at UC Davis or in Toro University. They all plan to come back home.

We really want to grow the healthcare bench of our counties. We work very closely with high schools, colleges, med schools, a special focus on bringing people back to this community after they've trained. We also provide a lot of food and housing crisis types of services to families and we continue to grow our philanthropy services in this county. These are just some of the events we've had. There's too many to go through, but essentially dozens and dozens of participating individuals from our group with partnership with various organizations in the community.

I'm not going to go through each of these. We have workforce development programs that we carry out with two high schools officially to grow again the interest help the youth in our community gain medical experience. It starts very early with high school and then we work as well as I mentioned with the colleges and universities as well as medical schools nationwide. We also got tired of recruiting doctors, so we decided to grow our own. We've started a 37 medical resident, a nationally accredited residency program at Memorial Medical Center.

So we're growing 37 doctors per year in Modesto. Those are all primary care doctors, family of medicine and internal medicine. And we're planning to extend to a small anesthesiology and pulmonary critical care fellowships in the next two years. As I mentioned before, dozens of medical students from throughout The US actually come to this area to rotate through our clinics. We're really growing that as well.

This is a picture of the 37 or so docs who are in the pipeline coming to us. And we're very hopeful we can keep most of them in the community. So that's a quick overview. Just something else that's coming up. You're probably all aware of the cancer and ambulatory surgery center that we're building right across the hospital. It's quite a big investment. It's about $380,000,000 investment. Should bring about 600 jobs total, not counting the physician jobs to the community. We believe they'll have a great impact economically as well as for healthcare in the community as well. That's projected to open in 2029.

So I'll close with our mission, patients first, people always, and then our vision to be the most comprehensive, integrated and connected health system for getting and staying well. I thank you for your time, and I can take any questions.

Doctor. Waffa, thank you very much for coming in. Any questions or comments?

Thank you for coming in.

Yeah. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Okay. We're going go ahead and move on to the public comment period. Acknowledge any written comments. We do have none on the public comment period. I'm going to go ahead and open the public comment period. Public comment is the time for those in attendance to speak on items that are not already on today's agenda. Please state your name for the record, direct all comments toward the dais. And so is fair for every speaker, please keep your comments limited to five minutes. Anyone want to come forward? I do have are you Hilary? Yes. Perfect.

All right. Good evening, supervisors. My name is Hillary Moak. I'm the Central Valley program director for Yosemite Rivers Alliance, formerly known as Tuolumne River Trust. And I'm here this evening to invite you all to our upcoming event, Modesto Rec Fest.

I've brought flyers for everyone that I'll drop off. Our event's gonna be held on Saturday, May 2 from 9AM to 1PM at the Tuolumne River Regional Park, which is we'll be at the Gateway Park, which is just adjacent to downtown right behind Stanislaus Foods off of South Morton Boulevard. This is a free family friendly recreation event that features a wide variety of different activities that are gonna be available for the public to engage in. There will be guided bike rides, nature walks, paddling, youth fishing clinic, disc golf, and orienteering courses. All activities are free, with all equipment, safety gear, and guidance provided as well.

We like to highlight this event because it's a truly grass grassroots and collaborative event that relies on the strength of partnerships to bring communities together outdoors. The Tuolumne River Regional Park is such an important feature of Santa Claus County, and we hope that you can celebrate with us this May. So thank you.

Hillary, thank you so much for coming in. Great things are happening down there.

Yes, definitely.

Watch out when you go into the 7th Street Bridge. Yeah. Because it's coming down. Anyone else for public comment? All right, seeing that I'll close the public comment period. And we're gonna move on to the consent item, consent calendar before the board takes action on the consent calendar. Does anyone in the audience wish to provide any public comment on any of the matters on the consent calendar? We did receive one written document regarding item I wrote it down. C four? Yeah. On c four. Okay. Yeah.

I'd also like to mention that item number b 20 that is addressing the farm worker advisory committee. We're gonna go ahead and remove that item from today's agenda and potentially bring it back at a later date. We did receive some additional resources that might help us be able to fill some spots on that committee. So before we bring this item, we wanna make sure we exhaust all opportunities. So we're gonna remove that, and that'll be removed from today's agenda.

Perfect. And I wanna acknowledge Perfecto Munoz's work on trying to help us move this forward. All right. Seeing no one in the audience, any Board member want to pull any items? Okay. Seeing none, I'll entertain a motion.

Motion to approve. Second.

Motion and second to approve the consent calendar minus farm worker. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries five zero. Thank you. I'm impressed. Normally this is the time when all the department heads get up and leave. But they have to stick around for budget All

right. So we're going to

move on to our first discussion item. I'm getting there. I'm getting there. Discussion item. Consideration of the approval of the 2,006 Mid Year Financial Report. Jody Hayes.

Okay. Good evening, everybody, and thank you for being here for this midyear budget presentation item. Just a couple of brief comments before I turn it over to the team here. First is I just want to acknowledge that our budget performance is tracking with what our normal expectations would be at this midway point of the fiscal year. Of course, budget is really driven by our revenue trends, and those continue to demonstrate demonstrate what we'd expected for this fiscal year, which is characterized, I think, as slowing and modest growth.

Department expenditures are on track with the with their with their expected performance, including some recent labor cost increases that were approved by this board during the first half of the fiscal year. So you'll hear more about that during the presentation. Overall, we continue to operate in a preservation budget mode for our general fund departments. This mode is generally supports our existing service levels, so that's good, but also recognizes that revenue trends would not support increased service levels at this time. So you're not gonna see recommendations in here for us to really expand service levels for those general fund departments.

And where you do see any expansion, it really is in targeted areas where we have identified funding. And then the last note is that, we are using the mid year process, to complete some reconciliation for some department fund balance, particularly the health services agency, which will you'll you'll hear about more in the presentation, as well as reconciling allocated positions that would take the action of remove vacate remove vacant unfunded positions that are no longer appropriate to remain in our spending plan because they are unfunded, we can no longer support them. So with that, I'd love to introduce the team of speakers. We have quite a lineup here, with you this evening. First, deputy executive officer Ryan Loop is here, and he'll be supported, with by Jennifer Hockez as well as Misty Ferreira, Amanda Keaton, Joshua Woolworth, and you just can't present the budget on March 17 without St.

Patrick Kavanaugh, who's right over there. He'll be joining a little bit later as well. And then as tradition, we like to enjoy some of our it includes some of our departments to participate and to share some of the work that they're doing with your budgeted resources. We have a great lineup tonight with Eric Klebmeyer from the Office of Emergency Services, Jose Michel with Aging and Veteran Services, and Linda Pinfield, your Agricultural Commissioner and Siller of Weights and Measures. Brian, it's all yours.

Thank you, Jody. Before we begin with the numbers, I'd like to briefly explain the purpose of the mid year financial report and why we prepare it. At the halfway point of the fiscal year, we conduct a mid year budget review to assess our financial position. This includes evaluating year to date revenues and expenditures and comparing them to the budget approved as of 12/31/2025. The mid year review is an important tool for promoting transparency and accountability.

It keeps the Board of Supervisors and the public informed about the county's current financial status. It also gives us the opportunity to make timely adjustments, ensuring that resources continue to align with our highest priorities. Most importantly, this review helps departments remain on track financially, reduces the risk of year end shortfalls and supports a stable overall fiscal outlook. All of this analysis along with any recommended budget adjustments are compiled into the 2026 midyear financial report. In totality, the recommended 2026 midyear budget totals 1,980,000,000, just shy of that $2,000,000,000 mark and supports 4,763 allocated positions across the organization.

This represents a net 43,400,000 in adjustments to the legal budget. The chart on the screen shows how the county's budget has progressed since the 2026 adopted budget approved by the board in September 2025 and the legal budget as of December 2025. Legal budget refers to the budget at a specific point in time and includes the totality of the adopted budget in any subsequent board approved adjustments as well as in conferences carried over from the prior fiscal year. Budget adjustments identified through the mid year financial report are applied to the legal budget and become the mid year budget. At mid year, department submitted budget requests totaling over 46 and a half million dollars.

Of these, 43 and a half million in adjustments are being recommended today. This is an increase of 2.2% over the legal budget funded by $51,600,000 in departmental revenue and the use of 14,500,000 in department fund balance. This results in a return of 22,700,000 to the general fund. The mid year budget recommendations account for about 93% of those requests considered. During the evaluation and recommendation process, various mitigation strategies were identified, some needs were deferred to future considerations, and others were not recommended due to limited funding, all with the overall health of the organization in mind.

We refer to that gap in funded recommendations for departments as unmet needs, and these totaled approximately $3,200,000 at this cycle. If approved as recommended, the twenty twenty six mid year budget will total 1,980,000,000, as I said earlier, funded with 1 point 41,410,000,000 in department revenue, 208,600,000 in the use of department fund balance, and 352,900,000 in net county cost or general fund. That's a $91,000,000 increase over the adopted budget or almost 5%. On the screen there and inside the report, you can see a breakdown of the appropriations inclusive of the recommendations contained in the vineyard budget by board priority area. With general distribution largely unchanged since that point.

That being said, there are many important individual recommendations impacting departments and the use of general funds and general fund balance, which will be discussed later on in the presentation. We'll move on now to an overview of discretionary revenue with Misty. Misty?

Okay. Discretionary revenue is the county's largest source of funding for the general fund. Final revenue posting of property tax was not available when adopted budget was So at mid year, we are simply truing up primarily property tax revenue and recognizing one time benefits. At mid year, the recommendation is to increase discretionary revenue by 3,800,000 as compared to the adopted budget level presented in September 2025. The primary contributors to this increase are 1,900,000 from the fiscal year twenty twenty five year end true up of property taxes for final postings and 1,500,000 resulting from the dissolution of the City of Riverbank successor agency.

The dissolution results in the balance of a 15,000,000 fiduciary trust fund that will now be allocated and distributed to the remaining taxing entities. As a result, Stanislaus County will receive a one time benefit from the trust fund of 1,500,000. From an overall perspective, the largest contributor to discretionary revenue is property taxes, which at mid year totaled 199,900,000, representing just over 60% of projected revenue. This is followed by 62,600,000 or just under 19% in public safety sales tax also known as proposition 172 funding. And 33,700,000 or just over 10% in sales and use taxes.

All other categories totaled 36,200,000 making up approximately 11% of the revenue budgeted for a total recommended discretionary revenue of 332,500,000. As indicated prior, while our revenue is continuing to grow, the rate of growth is slowing. For example, the historical growth rate for property taxes has been approximately 4.3%. However, this year we are on track with a lower growth rate of approximately 3.5% and our best estimates for next year is even more limited growth of approximately 2.5%, which would equate to a reduction in growth of approximately 2,000,000. The chart on the screen identifies the actual annual discretionary revenue received from fiscal year twenty twenty six through fiscal year twenty twenty five.

This includes the fiscal year twenty twenty six mid year budget recommended levels. At this level of 332,500,000, fiscal year twenty twenty six discretionary revenue reflects a growth below the 10 average of 6.2% with a projected increase of 1.4% over fiscal year twenty twenty five year end actuals. Of note, our fair market value of investment adjustments that occurred in fiscal years twenty twenty two and 2023. These represent the portion of investments purchased with pooled cash that is allocable to the county general fund and recorded as general discretionary revenue. The two orange bars indicate where receipts would have ended without these material adjustments in those two years, helping to better illustrate the slowed revenue growth experienced recently and anticipated to continue through fiscal year twenty twenty six.

Discretionary revenue is one of the critical revenue variables used to project budget resources for the future in the county's long range model. Annual budget analysis is completed with attention to the multi year general fund long range model, which provides guidance for financial decisions and a level of confidence around the sustainability of critical services to the community for years to come. The long range model for fiscal year twenty twenty six has been completed through budget years 2030. The long range model reflects annual discretionary revenue growth forecast at 3.3% on average per year over the next five years, with departmental revenue anticipated to grow 1% annually over the same period. Base general fund costs are projected to increase 4.5% annually on average over the next several years.

This will require additional use of general fund reserves to balance the budget. Along with other one time funding solutions and balancing strategies to mitigate projected annual budget deficits. This diagram is intended to display the impact of the county general fund should various spending scenarios materialize. The red line at the bottom of the chart indicates the impact of 100% budget utilization each fiscal year based on long range model assumptions. This result in the full use of existing general fund reserves by July 2029 and a negative balance of $83,400,000 by July 2030.

Similarly, scenarios depicting various levels of utilization are shown in other lines in the chart. The blue line portrays 95% utilization ending with 63,000,000. The black line represents 90% utilization resulting in 209,500,000. And the green line illustrates 85% utilization ending with 355,900,000 after five years. What is important to note is that the ongoing evaluation of the long range model against actual experience would prompt changes in operations long before fund balance and the general fund would be depleted.

This is another reason why this tool is so meaningful in identifying fiscal strengths and serving as an integral component in the development of budget policy and direction. Understanding the implications of these projections and the importance of information provided by the long range model is what guides budget decisions and results in the recommended recommendations presented before you today. I will now pass on the presentation to Joshua who will begin to walk us through additional budget details beginning with an overview by board priority.

The recommended mid year budget for the priority supporting a strong and safe community totals $424,800,000, which represents a $3,500,000 increase. These adjustments are funded by 3,400,000 in revenue, 1,500,000 return of 1,500,000 of fund balance, and an increase of 1,600,000 in net county Adjustments in this priority include an increase of 2,600,000 to support increased labor costs. This adjustment includes approximately 2,100,000 in negotiated labor increases for the Office of Emergency Services and the Sheriff's Office. It includes another $490,174 in support for the Sheriff's Office for increased costs associated with retirement cash outs and labor costs not captured in the county's salary projector tool. In the 2026 adopted budget, an adjustment decreasing appropriations by $437,134 was made in the sheriff's office to reflect declining cannabis revenues.

The department has worked with the CEO's office to identify operational adjustments needed to manage this reduction. To align current appropriations with operations, it is recommended to delete four deputy sheriff one two positions. There's no budget adjustment associated with this recommended recommendation as the adjustment was made with the 2026 adopted budget. It is recommended to upgrade 40 radios for the sheriff's office court security unit to support operations in the soon to be completed new courthouse for a total cost of $400,000. The current radios used work well in the relatively flat concrete current courthouse, but will not work in the steel multistory new courthouse requiring this upgrade.

This request will be funded with net county cost, but the department will be seeking public facilities fees funding to offset some of the cost. It is recommended to increase realignment revenue in the probation department by $2,900,000. This adjustment will benefit department fund balance by 1,500,000 and Nick County costs by 1,400,000 and reflects enhancing law enforcement activities sub account growth revenue received. All other adjustments total $511,318 and include a new manager two for the sheriff's office to support facility operations, offset by the deletion of one accountant, support for the public defender's office to support increased cases being referred to the alternate defender's office and the conflict attorney panel, adjustments for the district attorney's office to rightsize to grant funding in the replacement of a sheriff's vehicle. At this time, it is my pleasure to introduce Eric Klebmeyer, your fire warden and director of Office of Emergency Services.

Good evening, Chairman Chiesa, members of the board, CEO Hayes, County Council Boes. Thank you for the opportunity to provide a brief update on the work of the Office of Emergency Services and highlight some of the ways that our team continues to strengthen and the safety and resilience across our county. Our emergency management division continues to strengthen the county's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters. We do this through coordinated planning, community engagement, and maintaining the operational readiness of our emergency operations center or EOC. OES maintains several countywide emergency plans, count the number of times I say plan, including the local hazard mitigation plan, emergency operations plan and the county's continuity of operations plan.

These plans are regularly reviewed and updated to meet local, state, and federal requirements, and our team continually works to strengthen them as the needs of the county evolve. Over the past year, the emergency management team has delivered more than four thousand five hundred hours of training to over three fifty participants. This includes ICS courses, EOC management team training, and participation in drills covering a broad range of emergency scenarios from earthquakes to dam failures and large scale wildfire events. I'm very proud to share that we also held our first annual preparedness day event in September during national preparedness month. This event brought together more than 30 participating agencies and partners to to provide emergency preparedness resources to the community.

And of course I would be remiss if I didn't bring up our emergency notification system, STANAWARE. STANAWARE is a mass notification platform that's opt in for our community. And I encourage everyone to visit stanaware.com and sign up for notifications. And if you care to have notifications for your loved one's addresses, you can add those as well. The Office of the Fire Warden partners with all fire agencies in the county and the support of the Stanislaus County Fire Authority to provide fire services for everyone.

Recently, the fire prevention division distributed more than 1,400 smoke detectors throughout the community in an effort to reduce fire related injuries and fatalities. With grant funding, we also acquired a fire safety trailer and propane fire extinguisher prop to support our growing fire safety education program, which includes school demonstrations and public outreach. Our training coordinator provides state fire marshal certified courses to local agencies and has developed a countywide volunteer training academy and EMT program that brings firefighters together to learn critical skills. In partnership with local fire agencies, the fire warden's office also hosts annual wildland training at Turlock Lake, which is a multi day event that gives both new and experienced firefighters the opportunities to train together on wildland firefighting tactics. We continue to support countywide communications and technology coordination, ensuring that all fire agencies can communicate effectively during emergencies.

Our administration staff provides administrative and grant writing support to our districts helping to reduce their workload. We've also rebuilt our community emergency response team or CERT, which is a volunteer group that supports first responders with basic disaster response and rehab functions, and our chaplaincy program continues to support both community members and first responders by providing emotional assistance during critical incidents. Our local emergency service I love saying LEMSA local emergency medical services agency or LIMSHA is responsible for planning, regulating and overseeing the local EMS system from ambulance providers and emergency departments to specialty programs. The LEMSA also has regulatory oversight of paramedic and EMT training, certification, licensing and system wide quality improvement. Staff review patient care reports, clinical outcomes, response times and system efficiency through integrated data systems to ensure everyone in our community receives high quality emergency medical care.

The LIMSHA is currently completing a comprehensive EMS system assessment which reviews every component of the EMS system from 09:11 call intake to ambulance deployment, fire first response, clinical care, data systems, behavioral health coordination and financial sustainability. This assessment will identify system strengths and opportunities for improvement to ensure a more reliable EMS system for our community. Each program plays a unique role, but together all share the

same

mission, protecting our community and ensuring we're ready to respond when it matters the most. Thank you for your continued support as we work to build a strong and safe Stanislaus County.

Thank you very much, chief.

The recommended midyear budget for the priority supporting a healthy community totaled $778,200,000. This is an increase of $42,900,000. These adjustments are funded by $26,400,000 increase in revenue, a $16,500,000 increase in the use of department fund balance, and there's no net county cost change. There is a recommended a 126 deletions for up positions. As reported in the 2026 adopted budget, the CEO's office has been working with departments in this priority to review the makeup of their fund balance.

While work for other departments continues, the work has concluded for our aging and veteran services and health services agency. ABS will be returning $391,867 of general fund, and HSA will be returning $20,500,000 of net counter cost to the general fund. Recommended adjustments reflected in the midyear budget represent the appropriations needed for the departments to transfer the funds to the general fund. An increase in appropriations for behavioral health and recovery services of $4,000,000 is recommended to support increased contracts with vendors to address increased service level needs within the community and ensure uninterrupted services. An increase of 15,100,000 in VHS is recommended to support reimbursing doctor's behavioral health center for the difference between contracted rates and actual Medi Cal rates.

Half of this adjustment represents transferring funds from the department's behavioral health and recovery services budget the managed care budget, with the remaining half representing the actual payment to DBHC. It is recommended to increase appropriations and estimated revenue by $575,672 in ABS to support federal and state Older Americans Act funding for congregate nutrition, home delivered meals, supportive services, disease prevention, and family caregiver services. All other adjustments total approximately 2,300,000 and include adjustments for ABS to align with funding sources related to the SNAP Ed and PEARLS programs, adjustments for BHRS to reclass several positions to align with actual staffing, fully fund the public guardian budget, support salary costs, extra help, and cost allocation plan charges, and adjustments for HSA deleting three positions in part due to the termination of the CalFresh Healthy Living Program and aligning to funding sources in the EMS funds to fully utilize available EMS funds for uncompensated medical care costs. Additionally, these adjustments include the deletion of 123 unfunded positions with 111 from the community services agency, seven from the department of child support services, and five from HSA. Of the positions recommended for deletion, 80% have been vacant for over one year and their deletion is not expected to affect the department's current service levels.

CSA did review all positions in the support divisions including administration finance and operations to determine if there were any positions that were vacant and could be recommended for deletion as well. At this time I'm pleased to introduce Jose Michel the director of aging and veteran services.

He acted surprised.

We told him two minutes ago.

Good evening, chairman Keza, CEO Hayes, county council Boes, and members of the board. My name is Jose Michel, and I wanna thank you for the opportunity to highlight the mission and work of the Department of Aging and Veteran Services. There are some of the team. Our department brings together what are often two separate agencies in other communities. The Area Agency on Aging, which serves older adults, persons with disabilities, family caregivers, and the veteran services office, which assists veterans, their dependents, and surviving family members in accessing the benefits they have earned through federal, state, and local programs.

And every day, we live out the county's mission to build community by helping seniors and veterans obtain the services and benefits they need to live secure, healthy, and independent lives. That vision guides everything we do, and I'm proud to say we have a passionate team that's deeply committed to carrying that out. And this is a special month for us. March 2020 marks National Senior Nutrition Program month, and it celebrates the fifty four year anniversary of the senior nutrition program, a program that continues to improve health, reduce isolation, and keep older adults connected to their communities. And earlier in this very evening, in this very meeting, we we had the privilege of bringing forward a proclamation asking the board to recognize March's senior nutrition program month.

On behalf of our team, the seniors we serve, we thank you for your support. And as we celebrate this milestone, I wanna share what senior nutrition looks like in Stanislaus County. Our senior meals program continues to make real and lasting differences. Through our congregate meal sites, older adults not only receive nutritious meals, they gain opportunities to connect with others and stay engaged in the community. This year, we submitted several participant stories to Meals on Wheels America that truly reflect the impact of this program.

One participant first began attending while caring for a close friend who received meals at one of our sites. After her friend passed away, she continued attending because she didn't wanna lose the sense of community she built there. And despite surviving multiple strokes and undergoing open heart surgery, she still attends regularly and says the people at the center have become her family. Another participant, a retiree who spent many years working in maintenance, shared that living on a fixed income makes the program essential in helping stretch his food budget. But he added, it's the friendships and the daily interactions that keep him coming back.

So just as our nutrition program nourishes the body, many of our other services help seniors address complex questions and challenges. For many older adults, the first point of contact is our information and assistance program. Often people call us not knowing where to begin. So our staff take the time to listen, answer questions, and connect them with the resources that help them to continue to live safely and independently. We also recognize that behind many older adults are family members providing care, often while juggling their own jobs and responsibilities.

So our family carer support program provides those caregivers with education, resources, and respite services so they don't have to navigate those challenges alone. And some of our programs offer even more intensive support. Our multipurpose senior services program, MSSP, provides case management to older adults with chronic health conditions who might otherwise face premature placement in long term care. And I'm proud to share that our MSSP site was recently recognized by the California Department of Aging as a top performing program for its delivery of high quality person centered care. Through comprehensive assessments and ongoing coordination with health and social service providers, MSSP helps older adults maintain their independence and safely age in their homes communities.

Complementing this work is Project Hope, which provides counseling tailored to the unique emotional mental health needs of older adults. Project Hope counselors, they meet with the participants in their homes, allowing individuals to receive support in an environment that's familiar, accessible, and comfortable for them. Many of these older adults are coping with grief, isolation, or major life transitions. And Project Hope offers supportive counseling and resources that help them regain stability and confidence. We also see strong outcomes through PEARLS, the program to encourage active, rewarding lives.

Over the past two years, PEARLS has served a 123 participants, helping older adults manage depressive symptoms and improve their quality of life. Using evidence based strategies, PEARLS empowers participants to build problem solving skills, increase meaningful activities, and strengthen emotional resilience. And just as we're committed to supporting older adults, we are equally committed to serving the veterans of Stanislaus County. Our veteran services office continues to deliver exceptional results, often outperforming counties much larger than ours. So Stanislaus County ranks nineteenth in veteran population with approximately 17,953 veterans.

But our veteran services team ranks ninth in state in the work loadings produced for claims and benefits, generating 7,120 units last year. Now this surpasses counties with far larger veteran populations, including Santa Clara, Alameda, Fresno, Kern, and Ventura. Now this reflects the dedication and expertise of our veteran service staff who work one on one with veterans, dependents, and surviving spouses to ensure they receive the benefits they've earned. And that could be disability compensation, pensions, education benefits, or survivor support. We're also excited to share that our department recently received funding from the National Council on Aging for a benefits enrollment center grant.

This grant will expand our ability to help older adults and veterans connect with benefits that support their health, nutrition, and financial stability. And as I close, I wanna thank the board of supervisors for your continued support of aging and veteran services. Your commitment allows us to reach more seniors, more caregivers, and more veterans every year. I am incredibly proud of the team that carries out this work. They're dedicated, compassionate, and mission driven. And whether they're helping someone navigate Medicare, serving a meal, counseling a veteran, supporting a caregiver, or coordinating care for a fellow adult, they show up every day with the same purpose, to serve. So together with your support, we build community, and we remain committed to strengthening the committee the community by helping seniors and veterans live secure, healthy, and independent lives. So thank you for the opportunity to present this evening.

Thank you, Jose. Excuse

me. Good evening. I'm Patrick Cavlan, senior management consultant. I'm gonna be taking us through the next three priority areas and the recommendations, included in the midyear budget for departments developing a high performing economy. Recommendations, the total midyear budget, is $35,000,000, And recommendations for this priority net zero and do not increase or decrease the legal budget.

The only budget or excuse me. The only budget adjustment in this priority area is for the agricultural commissioner. They have identified $225,000 of salary savings, which we're recommending to transfer to fixed assets to support workspace renovations for staff that are located at the agricultural center. It's expected that these improvements will increase workspace efficiencies. Recommendations also include the deletion of 12 unfunded long term vacant positions in workforce development to align the allocated position count with funding.

And before I continue to the other priority areas, I want to introduce Linda Penfold, the county's agricultural commissioner and Sealer weights and measures. Thank you.

Alright.

Good evening, Chairman Chiesa, your honorable board, CEO Hayes, County Council Boes, and all in attendance tonight. I'm Linda Pinfold, Stanseless County's Agricultural Commissioner and Sealer of Weights and Measures. So before I begin, I'd like to start out with a quick question that I'd like for you to consider. The last time you pulled up to a gas pump and filled your car, did you ever stop and wonder if the gallon of gas you paid for was actually a gallon? Well, most people don't because they trust that the system is accurate.

And that trust, it doesn't happen by chance or by accident. It exists because behind the scenes our weights and measures programs are constantly testing, verifying and certifying devices used in commerce. That quiet work is one of the foundations of developing a high performing economy, which is one of your board's priorities and directly aligns with the mission of our office. We build community by supporting a thriving agricultural economy and by protecting human health, property, natural resources, the environment, while also promoting equity and confidence in the marketplace. Most people are familiar with the role of the agricultural commissioner.

My staff protects agriculture and the environment from invasive pests, ensure the safe use of pesticides, inspects and certifies Stanislaus grown commodities so that they can be sold across the state, nation, and world, And documents the productivity of our agricultural industry through the annual crop report. These efforts, well, they support Stanislaus standing as one of the top agricultural producing counties. Not just in California, but in The United States. But I want to highlight a part of our work that many people don't see, yet they rely on every single day. And that's our role as a county's sealer of Weights and Measures.

Weights and Measures is one of the oldest forms of consumer protection in the world, dating back more than 5,000. In The United States, President John Adams signed the nation's first first Weights and Measures law on 03/02/1799. That commitment is commemorated each year during National Weights and Measures Week. And this year's theme is we measure what matters. And measurement, well, they're truly everywhere in our everyday lives.

So for example, each morning many of us rise and shine to start our days by getting out of bed from under a 90 by 102 inch sheet, wash with a four ounce bar of soap, and squeeze a nerdle of toothpaste from a six ounce tube onto our toothbrushes. To get our morning going, we scoop coffee from a 12 ounce bag into a coffee maker that may use a paper filter pulled from a 200 count container. Once the coffee is brewed, well, we may add creamer from 16 ounce carton and spoon sugar from a one and a quarter quarter pound of canister. And we haven't even left the house yet. Everything we buy has a quantity statement.

And the role of weights and measures is to ensure that you receive exactly what you pay for. This work is fundamental to maintaining a high performing economy. Because markets only function when there is trust and fairness in commercial transactions. Our weights and measures division serves Stanislaus County so that trusted, serves Stanislaus County as a trusted third party. State law requires a sealer in every county and we are responsible for inspecting, testing and certifying commercial and weighing devices used in commerce.

Each year our office registers approximately 1,100 business locations. 6,600 measuring devices such as fuel dispensers and meters. 2,300 commercial scales, and 6,600 utility meters. Our goal is to inspect at least 95% of all devices each year, ensuring that devices used in commerce meet street strict legal tolerances necessary to maintain consumer protection and market fairness. To achieve this goal, our inspectors annually test at least 6,300 measuring devices, 2,660 scales, and 600 utility submeters.

Only after device passes inspection do we place the county seal on it. There's a photo of the county seal that you can see that we're using this year to celebrate this year's our country's two hundred fiftieth anniversary. So that seal, it tells consumers that devices has been that device that that device has been tested, verified for accuracy, and approved for commercial use. Weights and measures laws create a level playing field ensuring that businesses compete fairly and that no one gains an advantage through inaccurate equipment or misleading measurements. For businesses, this means fair competition in the marketplace, protection from financial loss due to inaccurate equipment, compliance with state laws, and increased consumer confidence.

For consumers, it means that they can trust that that gallon of gas, pound of produce, or whatever they buy that's packaged, that it's exactly what it claims to be. Our inspectors verify the accuracy of devices ranging from gas pumps and grocery store scales to taxi meters, utility sub meters, price scanners, and packaged goods labeling. We also conduct undercover test purchases to ensure transactions are accurate and prices that are charged match those that are advertised. In many ways, our work operates quietly in the background. Much like running water or electricity, most people don't know or notice that there's something wrong or something is not right unless something does go wrong.

But when those issues arise, our office investigates and responds. We take every complaint seriously and we ensure each one is addressed. So when you think about weights and measures, you can think of us as the third party in every commercial transaction. There's the buyer, there's the seller, and then there's the sealer, quietly ensuring the transaction is fair for everyone involved. So by maintaining accuracy, transparency, and confidence in the marketplace, our work supports consumer protection, promotes business integrity, and reinforces the economy foundation that allows Stanislaus to grow and prosper.

In short, we measure what matters. Because trust in commerce is essential to a high performing economy. Thank you all for this opportunity to present to you. I also wanna wish everybody not only a happy Saint Patrick's Day, but also today is National Agriculture Day too. Thank you.

Thank you very much. You definitely had our rapt attention. And my takeaway tonight is there's buyers, sellers, and sealers. I love that. I love that. Thanks, Linda.

The the recommended 2026 midyear budget for the department promoting lifelong learning toll totals $23,300,000. The midyear financial report does not include any adjustments to this priority area. The recommended 2026 midyear budget for the department's enhancing community infrastructure totaled $270,300,000, a decrease of 2 and a half million. Revenue is also recommended adjustments for revenue as $1,200,000 less decreasing revenue by $1,200,000 And these adjustments result in a decreased use of fund balance in the amount of $1,400,000 and an increased use of net county cost in the amount of $160,000 Staffing adjustments include the add and deletion of one position, which does not increase the number of allocated positions. Recommended for this recommendations for this priority section include technical adjustments for the departments of planning and community development, public works and environmental resources.

Planning's 2026 adopted budget include prior grant expenses tied to purchase orders that were carried forward along with some minor administrative adjustments. A $4,000,000 reduction in appropriations is recommended to correct this. The budget also included grant revenue that was actually received last year and should have been used, or should have been shown as the use of fund balance. A $2,900,000 decrease to estimated revenue is necessary to correct this and to ensure the budget reflects only new grant funding expected this year. Altogether, these adjustments result in the next savings of $1,200,000 to fund balance.

Adjustments rightsizing public works and environmental resources total $1,000,000 and public works increases totaling $735,000 and recommendations are necessary to align appropriations with year end projected costs and $66,000 increase to capital outlays as recommended to reflect increased costs and to purchase a polymerized aluminum chloride machine. These increases are funded with $462,000 in estimated revenue and $330,000 of fund balance department fund balance or retained earnings. Recommendations to DER result in two a $235,000 increase to appropriations and a $593,000 increase to estimated revenue. These increases are related to revenue and expenditures associated with the solid waste agreements between the county and the nine incorporated cities. Additional recommendations include the deletion subsequent addition of a manager one two position within the solid waste division, and the transfer of one account clerk three and two environmental technician positions among budget units.

Last fall, the South San Joaquin Irrigation District notified the county of its intent to terminate the Woodward Reservoir License Agreement effective 10/15/2026. The county will require professional and legal services to successfully facilitate the termination of the agreement and transition recreational activities to South San Joaquin Irrigation District. A 160,000 increase in appropriations funded by net county cost is recommended to cover these costs. Additionally, in parks and recreation, we're increasing revenue and appropriations in the off highway vehicle budget to align with update updated state grant award amounts. Finally, I'd like to highlight a pending revenue exposure that we're tracking.

Since early twenty twenty five, operations at Woodward Reservoir have been disrupted by the sudden spread of the golden muscle invasive species to protect local waterways. Boat launches at Woodward Reservoir were closed, and vessel inspections at Modesto Reservoir were and vessel excuse me. Vessel inspections began at Modesto Reservoir, which limited boating boating at both sites. Although ward wards launches were briefly reopened and the thirty day banding and quarantine program was implemented, this program is resource intensive and closures are expected to resume. The golden muscles discovery and protective measures have taken significantly have significantly reduced the department's revenue.

Many year analysis identified the $390,000 shortfall. And while the shortfall is noted, no budget adjustments are being recommended at midyear. Staff will continue to monitor the revenue and expenses with a recommendation expected in the twenty twenty six third quarter financial report. With that, I will now pass the presentation to Amanda who will discuss recommendations for delivering efficient public services.

Good evening. My name is Amanda Keaton and I a senior management consultant on the budget team. I will be walking you through the department the recommended midyear budgets for departments and the delivering efficient public services board priority area. Thank you. The recommended mid year budget totals approximately $445,000,000.

It reflects a net decrease of about 560,000 in appropriations. These adjustments are funded by 26,400,000 increase in department revenue and 875,000 increase in fund balance with a net decrease in net counting costs amounting to $27,800,000 It's important to note that this priority includes the discretionary revenue budget within county operations. Because of that, revenue received in this priority significantly reduces net county cost. This is primarily driven by the return of general fund match by about 21,000,000 for HSA and about 390,000 for aging and veteran services. Finally, adjustments in this board priority area amount to one deletion.

Due to rising software licensing costs driven by increased demand and vendor price increases, it is recommended that ITC Increases appropriations and the use of their retained earnings or fund balance by 750,000. This includes licenses for Adobe, Microsoft Office, Central Square and Procure America. A recommendation of 500,000 for GSA, our general services agency, reflects an equal increase to both revenue and appropriations. This is funded by charges for services and will support fleet services and upfitting vehicle parts for 22 vehicles in house rather than using an outside vendor. The county's contingency budget is housed within county operations.

And when it's used, it reduces the overall contingency balance. In the mid year budget adjustments, this includes a transfer of $3,900,000 in the contingency funding to support various general fund needs across departments. These include items such as negotiated labor increases, operational and administrative support. Lastly, all other adjustments within this priority total 1,700,000 and primarily support department operational and structural needs. With that, I will now pass it over to Jennifer who will walk you through the staffing changes in this budget cycle. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Jennifer Hawkes with CEOHR, and I will be presenting the staffing portion of today's presentation. The twenty twenty six first quarter financial report authorized 4,905 allocated positions. Since that time, additional staffing adjustments resulting in a net increase of one position have been approved through separate board actions. These adjustments bring the current allocation total to 4,906.

The 2026 mid year budget recommends deleting a net total of 143 vacant positions. If approved, the county's total authorized position count would decrease to 4,763. The county staffing strategy began with 2026 adopted budget, which introduced two phase approach to reduce vacancies and align the budget with a more realistic and manageable position allocation. Phase one focuses on unfunded positions. These are positions that are allocated but do not have active funding, which can artificially which artificially inflates the position counts and misrepresents the true staffing capacity and cost structure.

As part of the twenty twenty six first quarter financial report, departments identified 135 unfunded positions. Of these, 107 have been vacant for more than twelve months. After review, the recommendation is to delete these positions as part of the major financial report. This action completes phase one of the staffing strategy. Looking ahead, phase two phase two will focus on long standing vacant positions.

Staff will evaluate strategies to balance normal turnover through attrition while addressing positions that remain vacant for extended periods. The midyear budget includes the deletion of four positions for departments supporting a strong and safe community. Staffing recommendations for the sheriff's office include the addition of one block budgeted manager one two to service a facility operations and projects manager. To offset this position, it is recommended to delete one vacant block budgeted accountant one two. Due to the reduction in cannabis revenue previously approved, it is recommended to delete four block budgeted deputy sheriff one two positions.

For departments supporting a healthy community, a total of 126 vacant positions are recommended to be deleted. Recommendations for child support services include the delete deletion of seven unfunded vacant positions due to flat funding from the state. For the Community Services Agency, it is recommended to delete 111 unfunded positions. The budget also includes recommendations to delete eight vacant positions in the Health Services Agency. This includes five vacant unfunded positions, one position no longer needed due to changing operational needs after the clinic transition, and two vacant positions due to program termination, funding constraints, and other staffing adjustments necessary to sustain ongoing operations.

Departments developing a high performing economy will delete 12 vacant unfunded positions in workforce development. For departments delivering efficient public services, the deletion of one vacant position is recommended for the treasurer tax collector. Departments enhancing community infrastructure will add a net of zero positions. For environmental resources, recommendations include the addition of one block budgeted manager two I'm sorry, manager one two to support the solid waste division. And to offset this addition, it is recommended to delete one vacant block budget budgeted manager one two.

This chart illustrates the number of full time allocated positions represented by the blue line at the top and the number of full time employees represented by the green line below from 07/01/2020 2007 through 01/01/2026. From fiscal year two thousand twelve through fiscal year twenty twenty five, staffing levels steadily increased as the county recovered from the great recession, reaching a new peak of 4,942 allocated positions in March 2025. The allocation count of 4,763 positions is slightly below that peak, reflecting a decrease of 179 positions or approximately 3.6% from March 2025. The recommended 2026 mid year budget includes a net decrease of 143 positions, primarily due to the deletion of unfunded positions, bringing bringing the total allocation count to 4,763 positions. This adjustment is expected to lower the vacancy rate to 10.2%.

This vacancy rate chart on the screen shows that the county's vacancy rate was 16.9% in July 2022. Since that time, the county implemented the employee choice bonus plan to help stabilize the workforce. This plan was designed for active full time employees, allowing them to select one of three bonus incentive options, including 168 paid in cash, additional lead time, or paid into deferred compensation. Each option is structured to be paid over three annual installments. On 04/29/2025, the board approved a one year extension of the employee choice bonus plan for new hires hired through 06/30/2026.

The board also authorized the chief executive office to evaluate the merits of extending the plan for the upcoming fiscal year each mid year budget cycle. As of 01/01/2026, the vacancy rate has decreased to 12.8%. As previously noted with the recommended major budget staffing adjustments, the vacancy rate is projected to further decrease to approximately 10.2%. This progress is also reflected in recruitment activity as shown in the recruitment per fiscal year chart on the screen. Recruitment activity has steadily declined from four ninety total recruitments in fiscal year twenty two-twenty three, which was an average of 41 per month to a current average of 30 recruitments per month.

As more positions remain filled and turnover decreases, the number of recruitments needed each year naturally declines. Overall, the employee choice bonus plan has produced positive results with lower vacancy rates, fewer recruitments, and a more stable workforce to support the county's operations and public services. The chief executive office reviewed available budget resources and evaluated the performance of the employee choice bonus plan. Based on that analysis, it is now recommended that the plan continue only for hard to recruit and hard to fill classifications for new employees hired between 07/01/2026 and 06/30/2027. This targeted approach focuses incentives on the classifications facing the greatest recruitment challenges, reduces overall program costs, and continues to provide eligible new hires with flexibility in choosing from the available incentive options.

This concludes the staffing portion of the presentation, and I'll pass it back to Ryan. Thank you.

Thanks, Jennifer. Alright.

As we conclude this presentation for your board's consideration, I wanna provide a brief overview of the budget controls that guide our efforts to end the year in a positive fiscal position, as well as the general fund's role as the payer of last resort. The county is required to sustain operations while managing within the budgeted appropriations approved by the board of supervisors. These controls ensure that departments finish the year in a positive fiscal position. For departments that receive general fund support, there is an added requirement. They must operate within their existing net counting cost or general fund allocation.

Departments are expected to prioritize the use of external revenues, including realignment and community corrections partnership funds before relying on net counting cost. Any unused net counting cost or contributions or matches we refer to it, is returned to the general fund at the end of the fiscal year. These budget controls ensure compliance with government code as outlined in the County Budget Act. While the County has consistently adhered to these requirements, the period following the great recession allowed us more flexibility to respond to emerging needs. However, slowed growth in discretionary revenue along with pending federal and state changes has placed us on a more cautious path since the start of the last fiscal year.

While mid year is the point at which departments conduct an in-depth analysis to develop year end projections and inform budget decisions, it's not unusual to pause at this stage and continue monitoring actual expenditures and revenue rather than make adjustments immediately. The third quarter then provides the opportunity for departments to make final adjustments current year budgets so they can finish the year in a positive fiscal position. Priorities consistent with county policy include funding retirement and termination cash outs, employee choice bonus plan payments, requirements, unanticipated cost allocation plan fluctuations, and issues related to safety and risk. Final recommendations to adjust and manage the budget will be presented to the board for consideration and approval in May. In addition, several efforts are ongoing or on the immediate horizon.

This includes implementation of new federal rules, most notably HR one, as well as local program changes such as those occurring within parks and recreation. Staff will also continue conducting fund balance analysis similar to the work completed in AAA and Vets and the HSA under the supporting community health priority area. These efforts are part of the organization's broader commitment to responsive and strategic financial stewardship. Looking slightly further ahead, staff plan to bring forward a temporary rollover budget during the proposed budget cycle. This approach will allow for more informed zero based budgeting analysis of the general fund departments and ultimately lead to a more strategically developed recommended adopted budget.

As referenced by Jennifer, the human relations team will also continue to advance its work in addressing long standing vacancies across the organization. In short, as I have learned in my very brief time as the budget director, excellent budgetary work is a continuous ongoing process. You can find nearly two decades of the county's budget online at the county's website, with the mid year financial report posted following its acceptance by your board. To bring us home here, staff recommendations are, as presented in the agenda item are also on the screen here, which I'm happy to summarize for you. Number one, accept the chief executive officers 2026 mid year financial report.

Two, authorize the chief executive officer and the auditor controller to make the necessary budget adjustments contained therein. Three, authorize the use of approximately 3,900,000 in appropriations for contingencies. Four, amend the salary and position allocation resolution as recommended. Five, approve compensation changes for unrepresented management attorney positions. Six, approve an amendment to the recruitment and retention bonus plan to limit eligibility to hard recruit and hard to fill classifications.

And finally, seven, direct the chief executive officer and his designees to work with the with department heads to closely monitor spending and recognition of revenue within budget authority and instruct departments to make operational changes as needed to remain within the legal budget appropriations. That concludes our presentation. I'm happy to field any questions you may have at this time.

Alright. Any questions of staff? Seeing none at this time, I'm gonna go ahead and open the public hearing. I'm going to acknowledge we don't have any public or written comments. Anyone wishing to speak on this, please come up to the dais.

Seeing no one, I'll close the public hearing and bring it back for comments and or motion.

Motion to approve. With the caveat as always that there was hours and hours of briefings and we appreciate everything. Any decision made today is not taken lightly, but we've had most of our answer questions answered through our briefing process and we thank staff for the very in-depth briefings.

Before we finalize this, just add the same thing. As always, impressed with what you guys do and the numbers you put together here. It's so nice to be able to get these updates and be able to have the confidence to make decisions based on that we know we have good information coming from you guys. And the world is not ending here, but it has slowed down as far as our county budget. It's just we have a lot of confidence in the numbers you guys are providing us and help us make good decisions and and very much support. And thank you guys for all what you've done, especially tonight. I know a lot of you had to step up tonight and do some things that that you didn't plan to tonight, and and thank you all for doing it.

Thank you, mister chair. Just like to, thank all the presenters, the budget team. You guys did a fabulous job with this. And again, gonna repeat what everybody else said. Thank you for all the hours and the briefings and answering the the mundane questions. Thank you very much.

Joshua, Ryan, Jennifer, Amitzi, Amanda, Patrick, Linda, chief, and Jose. Thank you very much. That was a great presentation. And I appreciate your attention to detail always. And I know we've done this many times in private. And but it's always good for us to be reminded on a continual basis because things change. I didn't have a second to Supervisor Graywall's motion.

I'll second it.

Okay. Now we have a second. Alright. No other comments? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. Motion passes four, one. Okay, now we're gonna move on. Thank you all. To the department heads. Can move on to the discussion item approval to declare an emergency in accordance with the public contract code section 22,050 for some emergency repairs. Hey, why is

this in? I

guess we're not.

Good entertainment.

Alright. Good evening, chairman Kiesav, supervisor, CEO Hayes, counsel Bose. I am Vinal Chan, administrative manager for Parks and Recreation. And joining me today is Sam Churn, deputy director of public works. We are here to request that the board of supervisors declare an emergency under California public contract code section two two zero five zero to authorize immediate repairs to the Basso Bridge and Old La Grange Bridge pedestrian structures.

These county maintained bridges provide access to recreation areas, fishing locations, and river crossings along the Tuolumne River corridor. They support activities such as fishing, wildlife viewing, and casual paddling, making them valued outdoor destinations for residents and visitors. The Basil Bridge, which was built in 1911, is located in Stanislaus County just off Highway 132 southwest of the town of La Grange. It spans the upper reach of the Tuolumne River within the La Grange Regional Park and was retired from vehicular traffic and converted to a pedestrian only bridge in 1987. The old La Grange Bridge was built around 1914 and is located in the unincorporated community of La Grange in Stanislaus County.

It is situated on Old La Grange Road crossing the Tuolumne River near the La Grange Historical Park and just west of Turlock State Turlock Lake State Recreation Area. The bridge formerly served as a vehicular crossing, and it also was converted to a pedestrian only use in 1989.

Alright. So in July 2024, the Department of Parks and Recreation contracted with Interwest Consulting Group to oversee a comprehensive structural evaluation of the bridges. Consor Engineering, a sub consultant to Interwest, conducted bridge inspections in November 2024 to evaluate the structural condition of the bridges with an emphasis on the timber components and safety features of the bridges. The final engineering report documented significant deterioration across several structural elements, which included advanced deteriorations in multiple timber components, including failed caps, decayed columns, and compromised load bearing members requiring urgent stabilization. Upon review by the Department of Public Works project team, several deficiencies were determined to present immediate structural and safety concerns requiring urgent corrective action.

Old La Grange Bridge structural findings. Under National Bridge Inspection Standards, the bridge substructure received a rating of four out of nine, reflected excuse me, reflecting heavy deterioration of timber columns and bent caps that support the bridge deck. The timber cap at bent 10 has completely failed while several several other columns exist, advanced exhibit advanced decay and measurable section loss creating a risk of sudden localized structural collapse. Bridge railings also rated poor due to missing rails and posts increasing the potential for fall hazard and pedestrians attempting to cross the structures. For Basil Bridge, bearing areas at East Abutment and Pier 2 show visible sagging while timber vents displayed advanced rot and deterioration, further compromising the structure stability of the bridge.

Timber stringers within span two Through four receive a rating of four, which is deemed poor under the National Bridge Inspection Standard due to advanced deterioration and structural weakening. Stringer 14 has completely failed and no longer provides load carrying capacity, significantly significantly reducing reducing structurally structural redundancy and increasing risk under pedestrian loading. So currently, there is a osprey nest at Basso Bridge that and this particular nest may need to be safely removed or relocated following proper authorization with California Fish and Wildlife. A determination will be made as to whether the nest can remain in place or needs to be removed removed. If relocation is necessary, a platform structure will, as pictured to the right there, will be installed nearby.

An example, again, showed on the right there. As for the emergency repairs, the bridge was closed to the public on 02/24/2026. The actual cost of repairs is not yet known, but estimated to about to be about 300,000 per bridge. Staff will bring will return to the board of supervisors with updates on costs. Staff will provide updates to the board every fourteen days per public contract code 2205C1. Repair work is tentatively scheduled to start in April, and staff will return to the board of supervisors with an expected completion date.

Six staff recommendations are before the board for approval to address emergency repairs to the Basso And Old La Grange Bridges in accordance with California public contract code. They're declaring emergency pursuant to California public contract code section two two zero five zero. Approve staff's recommendation to proceed with immediate repairs by a four fifths vote, adopt the requiring required findings as presented, direct the director of public works to serve as the project manager, authorize the project manager to to procure equipment and supplies and to execute contracts necessary to complete the work, require parks and recreation to provide status update at the next scheduled board meeting and every fourteen days thereafter until the project is complete. For updates on our projects and events, please visit our website or follow us on social media, and staff are available for any questions regarding this presentation.

Anyone have any questions?

I have just a maintenance question. Since these bridges were designated as pedestrian bridges, they're do do they not have to do annual inspections on these bridges? Yeah. They're not part

of what we call the NBI, National Bridge Inventory Bridges, such as the vehicular bridges that is managed by public works. Those ones, every two years, there's a inspection report that's done by by Caltrans provided to us, and there's maintenance recommendations that we try to perform. And currently, there is a there are a couple of projects in Public Works' project list which in which we are trying to go out and do maintenance on quite a few actually bridges throughout the county.

Okay. So, they wouldn't be part of the program where you know at least we would have caught it. The know the bridge and its decay at some point may have been a little cheaper.

I'm only bringing this up because it's timely for tomorrow. The public asked us to keep 7th Street Bridge, the old one, as a ped bridge, and both parks departments, city and county, begged us no more parks bridges. They can't afford them. And it's sad, but it's true. Both these bridges are expensive and the parks departments can't afford them. So it's really about affordability. But I thought I'd mention that because we're in the process of demoing seventh Street Bridge. So there you go.

Thanks, Dave.

Thanks. Any other comments? Okay. I'm going to acknowledge that we do not have any public comment on this, but I'm going to open up the public comment period. Anyone that wants to comment? Please come forward. Seeing none, I'll bring it back. I just want to say that at Basso Bridge, it's the best place to launch when you're going to paddle down the Tuolumne River on the Upper River because that's the most beautiful area and then before you get down too far and then the La Grange Bridge, the Old La Grange Bridge is a great site to watch the salmon spawn from. So nice to have that so it's high enough that you can see down. Great. Okay. I'll entertain a motion.

Motion to approve. Second.

Motion and a second to approve. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries, five, zero. Thanks, Vanell, Sam, thank you. Parks Director. I'm going to move on to correspondence. Acknowledge receipt of correspondence and refer as recommended on the agenda. Board of Supervisors reports. We'll start right over here.

Well, thank you so much, chair. I had the opportunity to attend Stanislaus County's commit women's commission on acknowledging nine outstanding women and four outstanding young women. All of them were outstanding in everything they do, but I think the showstopper for me was a young gal from Gregori High School who got a full ride scholarship to MIT. First one from Stanislaus County in any recent history to get that type of, academic scholarship. So, again, all 13 of them were amazing, but MIT full ride scholarship, she, really made an impression in her application because she tutored children and peers that were having a hard time in calculus b and c.

As someone that didn't surpass precalculus in high school, I was very impressed.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. I just wanted to report out week before last, the regional policy council, which is, made up of the eight Valley counties, set up two people, Rosa Scoutia, Braden, and myself, Councilwoman Rosascutia Braden. The topics, we met with our local delegation up in Sacramento, talked about air quality, widening Highway 99 to three lanes all the way through the valley, transit and rail, and fix it first funding.

And, you know, again, if you're not continually up there sticking up for yourself, you'll be left behind. So it was a great opportunity. And as Dave said, tomorrow is the groundbreaking of the new 7th Street Bridge, and that will be 09:00 and they're meeting on the Crow's Landing side of 9th Street for the event. And it'll give you one last opportunity to walk across the bridge if you want to join us. Okay. Gonna move on to legislative fiscal management report.

A few items to report on this evening. I think everybody's well aware that there continues to be this limited federal government shutdown that is really only impacting the Department of Homeland Security at this point, and, I'm sure causing, much frustrations for any of our community members who happen to be traveling. And, so lots of coverage on that that's out there. I wanna recognize this is the season for submitting appropriations requests at the federal and state level. So we have submitted, funding requests on behalf of the county to senators Schiff and Padilla at the federal level in support of, several projects, including the Colorado Rouse neighborhood infrastructure project.

The final phase of that project, excuse me, our emergency operation center improvements. The, two bridge improvement projects we just discussed over some of the requests for both of those projects as well as the sheriff's threat assessment center radio infrastructure project, a critical project for public safety here in our community. In addition to those requests, we have offered letters of support for other local organizations and partners that are submitting their own requests. Some of those include the city of Modesto, Community Health Centers of America, Turlock Irrigation District, and Stanislaus Regional Housing Authority. And you already covered that tomorrow at 9AM, we have our, bridge I guess, our groundbreaking ceremony for the 7th Street Bridge.

And final note is just wanna make sure the community and everybody knows, yes, the lines are being preserved. We will do that. Thank you.

Thank you very much. And if there's nothing else, we to go to the order since I threw my agenda away. This meeting is adjourned.