A proposal to delay San Diego County’s budget approval process until October was bumped from Tuesday’s county Board of Supervisors agenda and will be taken up Wednesday.
The agenda item was continued due to time constraints for Tuesday’s meeting, including a closed session.
Along with the proposal to delay adoption of the fiscal year 2025-26 budget, supervisors on Wednesday are also scheduled to consider three other items: giving notice of any potential federal funding cuts, exploring legal and advocacy options related to fire trucks and monopolistic practices, and identifying capital improvement needs.
The budget delay proposal was put forward by Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe to allow the winner of a special District 1 election to have input on the county budget — typically due at the end of June.
She wants the board to approve a “recommended budget” in June that can be amended after the fifth member of the board is elected.
Shane Harris, president of the People’s Association of Justice Advocates, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon that residents “throughout our county both in the unincorporated areas and the cities don’t deserve to be put on pause while we wait on who is elected to represent District 1 on the county Board of Supervisors.”
“Families are sitting around tables in their kitchens right now deliberating what they will have to cut and what they want to keep, and the county should not be exempt from going through that same process,” Harris added.
On Monday, Joel Anderson joined Harris to urge the supervisors to reject the proposed delay.
“The primary reason for this two-step proposal is that it will provide the supervisors the chance to take in the impact of federal actions,” Montgomery Steppe told City News Service. “We administer and are required to administer services such as Medi-Cal and SNAP. There is a prudent, organized and responsible way to govern, and to approve a final budget without having all the information would not be prudent.”
More than 900,000 San Diego County residents use Medi-Cal, California’s version of federally-funded Medicaid. More than $200 million comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. These programs, and more, will likely be impacted by cuts from the Trump Administration.
With the county board split between two Democrats and two Republicans, the likelihood of compromise is slim. The fifth member to be elected will swing the board one way or the other.
The technically non-partisan Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Jan. 14 to hold a special election to fill the seat. If no candidate receives a majority on Tuesday, a runoff would take place July 1.
Seven people, including four elected officials, are vying to replace former San Diego County Supervisor Nora Vargas in her District 1 seat in Tuesday’s primary.
City News Service contributed to this article.
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