Humboldt County supervisors got their first look Tuesday at a proposed $657.8 million budget for fiscal year 2026-27, a plan Assistant County Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer Jessica Maciel said is up $28 million, or 4.4%, from the current year.
Maciel told the board the proposed general fund budget is $165.47 million, up $7.6 million, or 4.8%, and that the county is planning for 2,207.53 full-time equivalent positions — a net reduction of 33.6 positions, largely because of Department of Health and Human Services restructuring.
The presentation also included 17 one-time departmental requests totaling a little over $3.2 million. According to the meeting summary, staff recommended all of them, along with $5.4 million in countywide operational recommendations. The budget package also said the general reserve is expected to rise to $19.6 million.
The county’s budget hearings are scheduled for June 15, with final adoption anticipated June 18.
This was the board’s first public presentation of the spending plan, and it came in a meeting that also included a Kmart property purchase and several recognitions. The meeting recording is available here.
