Budget Portal
Where your local tax dollars come from, and where they go.
County of Santa Cruz
Approved budget, FY 2026-27 (July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027)
The Board of Supervisors approved the budget on June 24, 2026. The totals below are the approved figures; the detailed breakdowns are from the April 30 proposed budget, before the Board's June changes raised the General Fund from $844.1M to $851.4M.
Total budget, all funds (approved)
$1.29B
County news release: Board Approves FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget (June 24, 2026), p. 1
General Fund (approved)
$851.4M
Up from $844.1M in the April proposal.
County news release: Board Approves FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget (June 24, 2026), p. 1
Funded staff positions (as proposed)
2,682.28
57.88 fewer than FY 2025-26. The County says all eliminations were vacant positions. The approved budget funds more than 2,600.
County of Santa Cruz FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget, Financial Summary, “Staffing”
General Fund revenue (as proposed)
$812.9M
$31.2M less than proposed spending; the gap is covered with one-time money.
County of Santa Cruz FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget, Financial Summary, “General Fund at a Glance”
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Where the General Fund's money comes from (as proposed)
Total $813.0M
- Intergovernmental (state and federal funding)$445.8M (54.8%)
- Taxes$207.2M (25.5%)
- Charges for services$105.8M (13.0%)
- Licenses, permits and franchise fees$17.6M (2.2%)
- Other financing sources$12.8M (1.6%)
- Fines, forfeitures and assessments$9.3M (1.1%)
- Use of money and property$7.5M (0.9%)
- Miscellaneous$7.0M (0.9%)
Rounded to the nearest $0.1 million in the source. Total $812.9M.Source: County of Santa Cruz FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget, Financial Summary, “Revenue by Major Source (General Fund)”
Where the General Fund's money goes, by service area (as proposed)
Total $844.1M
- Health and Human Services$526.3M (62.4%)
- Public Safety and Justice$216.6M (25.7%)
- Land Use and Community Service$41.8M (5.0%)
- General Government$41.5M (4.9%)
- County financing (debt, contingency, GCR)$17.9M (2.1%)
Rounded to the nearest $0.1 million in the source. Total $844.1M.Source: County of Santa Cruz FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget, Financial Summary, “Expenses by Service Area”
Good to know
- More than half of the General Fund's revenue ($445.8M of $812.9M, as proposed) is intergovernmental: money from the state and federal governments. County of Santa Cruz FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget, Financial Summary, “Revenue by Major Source (General Fund)”
- The County faced an estimated $23 million structural budget gap. The approved budget bridges it with one-time resources while avoiding layoffs. County news release: Board Approves FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget (June 24, 2026), p. 1
- The proposed budget balanced by using $43.0 million in one-time funding from General Fund reserves and department trust funds. The General Fund reserve level falls to 10.4%, from 12.5%. County of Santa Cruz FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget, Financial Summary, “Overview”
Notes on the numbers
- We could not find a detailed breakdown of the budget as approved in June. The revenue and spending charts show the April 30 proposed budget, which the Board adjusted before approval.
Every figure is taken from County of Santa Cruz's own budget documents and was checked against the source page on 2026-09-22. All of this budget's documents