How Many California Counties are Running Budget Deficits?

California is deeply in the red.  Not politically, it is a failed Blue State.  But city after city, school district after school district, and the State are deep in deficit.  The State can not bail them out.  The Feds are actually starting to cut back funding them, since they continue to act as sanctuary agencies, allow boys to pretend to be girls, competing against girls.  Add to this the colleges antisemitic policies and racism.  Billions will be held back, adding to the deficits.

“Earlier this month, the Globe reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom is likely staring down a $10 billion budget hole that could deepen to $20 billion or more. That deficit number is now $12 billion according to the governor. With pending federal budget and DOGE cuts coming, that $12 billion is going to climb exponentially because Gov. Newsom and Democrats rely heavily on federal funding in the state budget.

As the Globe recently reported, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is also bragging that California owns the 4th largest economy in the world. But he leaves out some important details, like poverty, homelessness, crime, taxes, gas prices, housing costs, illegal aliens, welfare recipients, and a $1.5+ trillion total budget deficit, just for starters. And, California is the 1st most regulated state in the U.S. And, California has 15.6% of the nation’s unemployed – a third higher than the state’s overall share of US population.”

Will the Democrats make the needed cuts or will they attempt to raise taxes—forcing more businesses and families to flee.?

How Many California Counties are Running Budget Deficits?

Unlike California cities, the state’s counties appear more financially sound – for now?

By Katy Grimes, California Globe, 5/28/25   https://californiaglobe.com/fr/how-many-california-counties-are-running-budget-deficits/?fbclid=IwY2xjawKkSodleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE2WlpxZmswcVJzS0xQQlV4AR6efevCsPiKgROSsoZIcb4He0u4jglgmGO-FzkkyN7pP-RMg7he0_vH0DL8xA_aem_FDZzhS8PpCEscx2a8v9k9A

Earlier this month, the Globe reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom is likely staring down a $10 billion budget hole that could deepen to $20 billion or more. That deficit number is now $12 billion according to the governor. With pending federal budget and DOGE cuts coming, that $12 billion is going to climb exponentially because Gov. Newsom and Democrats rely heavily on federal funding in the state budget.

As the Globe recently reported, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is also bragging that California owns the 4th largest economy in the world. But he leaves out some important details, like poverty, homelessness, crime, taxes, gas prices, housing costs, illegal aliens, welfare recipients, and a $1.5+ trillion total budget deficit, just for starters. And, California is the 1st most regulated state in the U.S. And, California has 15.6% of the nation’s unemployed – a third higher than the state’s overall share of US population.

And he leaves out just how many of California’s cities and counties are running huge budget deficits.

We reported on California’s largest cities‘ budget deficits:

The City of Los Angeles has a $1 billion+ city budget deficit,

San Diego is over $300 million in debt.

The City of Sacramento has a $66 million budget deficit.

San Francisco has a $876 million budget deficit.

San Jose projected a $60 million budget shortfall, then ratcheted it down to $35.6 million, but is projecting a $52.9 million deficit for 2026.

The City of Fresno is facing a budget deficit of over $20 million in the 2026 budget.

Oakland is facing a $268 million deficit over the next two fiscal years.

Berkeley has a $28M budget deficit.

Now let’s look at California’s largest counties’ budgets and/or deficits.

Los Angeles County is the largest county in the state with a population of 9.7 million.

The Recommended Budget is $47.9 Billion for 2025-26. The “$47.9 billion spending plan cuts millions in funding and eliminates hundreds of vacant positions—but does not include layoffs.”

LA County has a tentative $4 billion settlement of thousands of childhood sexual assault claims brought under AB 218. The County is facing lower property tax revenue due to declining home sales. And LA County departments are making 3% cuts in their budgets.

Where this budget is going remains to be seen.

San Diego County, with a population of 3.3 million, has an $8.6 billion spending plan – $85 million more than the current budget, but according to the San Diego Union Tribune, the projected $138 million operational deficit will be erased. Oh really?

San Diego’s one-time COVID-19 funds are also expiring.

As San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond reveals, the county spends $5 million in taxpayer dollars earmarked for the legal defense of unauthorized immigrants facing deportation — regardless of their criminal history, and spends $7 million a year so jail inmates can make unlimited free phone calls.

So it sounds as if San Diego County will be making more cuts to actually achieve erasure of the $138 million budget deficit.

Orange County, with a population of 3,135,755, claims its “Recommended Budget is balanced with the base budget totaling $10.8 billion, of which $5.4 billion is the General Fund budget with $1.2 billion in General Purpose Revenue to cover the cost of providing County mandated services.”

“It is higher than last year,” Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said. “We have enormous new mandates from (the state) legislature to deal with, issues from the court, so it’s a frustration. Yes, it’s bigger than last year. I won’t defend that. But that is in the inevitable way of government budgets everywhere, and I wish we could get handle on it. Everything is more expensive,” NBC Los Angeles reported.

Riverside County, with a population of nearly 2.5 million, reports that the recommended budget for next fiscal year will be posted online by the end of May 2025. The current budget for Riverside County is $10.19 billion, and may be the easiest, most user-friendly budget to review, with every Riverside County agency and allotted budget listed.

San Bernardino County, with a population of nearly 2.2 million, proposes a budget of $10.5 million, touting financial prudence. “For the coming fiscal year, the County aims to continue its proven strategy of prudent budgeting, reduced volatility, and stable community investment while being aware of and prepared for the effects of market fluctuations and federal funding reductions affecting County services and the local economy,” County Luther Smoke reported to Supervisors.

“Through continued monitoring and careful financial planning, the 2025-26 Recommended Budget continues to mitigate these economic risks by prudently forecasting revenue and investing our sources in one-time needs rather than creating long-term liabilities.”

Sacramento County, with a population of more than 1.5 million, has a 2025-2026 budget proposal of $8.9 Billion. County Executive David Villanueva explains, “With this year’s budget, the County continues to address a longstanding structural imbalance in our budget, which has relied on one-time resources to fund ongoing expenditures.”

“This imbalance has resulted from expenditures growing faster than revenues, in part due to costs required to comply with County obligations” (usually state mandates).

“Significant reductions in the General Fund beginning balance in recent years have required service level reductions, and the process of bringing the budget into structural balance will continue to be a multi-year effort to align ongoing revenues with ongoing expenditures and put the County on a path toward fiscal sustainability into the future.” Yes, but will the County Supervisors adhere to what the county executive proposes?

Many of the counties haven’t finalized their 2025-26 budgets, and at this point are reporting balanced proposed budgets. The Globe will revisit each of the county budgets once they are finalized, and again during the year.