As Fresno County braces for its most challenging budget in years, supervisors on Monday heard from public safety and health services officials about the consequences.

To keep departments from laying off staff, the county assumed a more liberal property value growth rate than in previous years, County Administrative Officer Paul Nerland told supervisors.

Whereas in most years financial staff assume 2% property value growth — far below the 6.3% average growth over the last five years — staff planned for 4% growth. That is leaving little wiggle room for error. Property values in 2026 grew by 4.63% from the previous year, according to the 2026 assessment roll.

The problem comes as the $5.5 billion proposed budget has only a $7.6 million revenue rise compared to increases in costs coupled with funding reductions from state and federal sources.

Nerland said while the county can deal with existing problems due to the more liberal revenue assumption, unanticipated problems or further funding cuts could have severe negative impacts.

“Our maneuverability, when it comes to things we might do in the future, if revenue does not increase, we’ll have to cut,” Nerland said.

Recruiting Challenges for DA, Public Defender

The county dedicates 58% of its budget to justice services, whether that be through the sheriff’s department, the public defender, probation, or the district attorney’s office.

Of those, the sheriff’s office will be one of the few departments seeing a budget hike, getting a 4% bump to $398 million. The county also has a new building planned for sheriff’s administration, dedicating $15 million to help with the move to the PG&E building at 650 O St. and 705 P St.

Fresno County Sheriff John Zanoni said the focus in the upcoming budget is “maintaining services.” One of those includes bringing overtime expenses under control, Zanoni said.

Recruitment challenges for the public defender’s office and the district attorney means both departments won’t ask to fill vacancies.

Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp told supervisors she has about a 10% vacancy rate for prosecutors as she’s lost many to judicial runs and to the private sector.

“We continue to lose prosecutors to civil practice, to the Fresno County bench, because our salaries are not as competitive as we would like them to be, but it has improved greatly,” Smittcamp said.

Changes in state policies has made dedicating resources to keeping criminals in prison a higher priority. In the past few years, Gov. Gavin Newsom has closed five prisons. Smittcamp said she has at least five attorneys dedicated solely to keeping convicts from being released into the public.

Public Defender Antoinette Taillac echoed similar concerns.

She said in the past month, she lost five attorneys to the private sector who can work fewer hours for similar pay. The public defender’s office has 23 vacancies.

Medi-Cal Cuts Ripple Through Services Departments

Changes to Medi-Cal brought about by President Donald Trump’s administration became thematic for the county’s various health departments.

Department of Social Services Director Sanja Bugay estimates that Medi-Cal eligibility changes in H.R. 1 could lead to reductions in services for 50,000 county residents. Another 40,000 people could lose coverage outright, though that wouldn’t happen for at least a year when those changes roll out.

That’s created budget issues for several departments as counties have an obligation to pay for care for those without insurance.

Earlier in the year, Department of Public Health Director Joe Prado put out rough estimates of between $40 million and $240 million in additional costs in upcoming years due to indigent care.

Already, Prado’s department is requesting a $10 million allowance to cover indigent care for the upcoming year.

A $10 million reduction in appropriations comes as the department seeks to eliminate 16 vacant positions.

Reductions mean fewer mobile health services in the county, Prado said.

For the behavioral health department, reductions in Medi-Cal coverage could indirectly affect county budgets. The county covers care for the most impaired individuals, said director Susan Holt.

As people with private insurance through Medi-Cal lose coverage, symptoms often become severe.

The department also seeks one more public guardian position. As the need for public guardian oversight increased in recent years because of the CARE Act and SB 43, creating new programs similar to conservatorships, the number of public guardians has remained the same since 2008, Holt said.

“We cannot sustain the work for the safety of those we serve and the well-being of our employees,” Holt said.