04 May Contra Costa Had to ‘Dig in Their Pockets’ to Balance Budget, Finance Director Says

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors held two public hearings last week on the county’s proposed 2026-27 budget .(Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Two days of Contra Costa County supervisors reviewing the proposed 2026-27 budget in public hearings brought some good news: a balanced budget using one-time funds to backfill federal cuts and paying off tens of millions of debt.

It might not last.

Cuts from the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill,” or H.R. 1, that do away with health coverage and food assistance for thousands of residents because of eligibility changes are the biggest cause for what finance director Adam Nguyen says is a new structural deficit. But increased financial responsibilities and reduced support from the state, which faces its own deficit, also contribute.

“There’s no going back to the past,” said Nguyen during the first hearing April 27 about the impact of federal cuts. “The damage is already done and being done.”

Between 2026 and 2031, the county estimates that the Contra Costa Regional Medical Center will lose $500 million because of federal and state cuts. The health system as a whole faces a $1 billion deficit in that time with growing expenses.

Some of that damage is also unrelated to the bill. Supervisors last fall backfilled missing food assistance for thousands of residents using county funds after the then-ongoing government shutdown halted monthly payments. The $21 million price tag was only half of what was required for recipients’ full payments.

County leaders noted then that funding like that was not sustainable, which Nyguen said was the same for using one-time reserves in the proposed 2026-27 budget to fund Health Services and the Employment and Human Services Department.

Contra Costa had to “dig in their pockets” to balance its proposed $7.25 billion budget, said Nguyen. The proposed budget uses $80 million for Health Services and $34 million for the EHSD from one-time funds.

There are 297.6 full-time eligibility employees for Medi-Cal and CalFresh, the food assistance program in California, budgeted for the 2026-27 fiscal year. But EHSD says the changes from H.R. 1 will require between 294 and 445 workers.

And while more work is required, revenue from the federal government for the fiscal year is a $31.5 million decrease for the department, according to its presentation.

The county’s entire budget has about $2.65 billion in the general fund, which is not legally tied directly to any one use. However, only $844.8 million of that is discretionary.

Supervisors are proposing a five-year sales tax that would generate $150 million annually to support health and social safety programs, to make up for some of the decrease in revenue and increase in costs. Even if that is approved by voters in June, Nguyen says the county will still be financially strained.

As part of the hearing, supervisors were also asked to reaffirm their support for refusing to backfill federal and state cuts. Supervisor Candace Andersen questioned how that was possible if the proposed sales tax were to pass.

It’s “kind of a different beast,” Nguyen said. “This is a generational shift in the way that responsibilities are handled and who is provided services.”

The reaffirmation typically means that the county won’t pay for things like state- or federal-grant-funded positions that are no longer being received by the county.

The proposed budget will be voted on at the May 19 Board of Supervisors meeting.