By Tracy DeFore, County of San Diego Communications Office
Get involved and share your feedback on what you’d like to include in the County’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year starting July 1.
A survey and a tool that lets people rank the County’s budget priorities in order of importance to you opened Wednesday on Engage San Diego County.
Through the survey, you can also choose how they want to stay informed about a budget process—by email, text or some other form of communication. The survey and ranking tool remain open through March 22.
The County collects public input about programs and services year-round, but from January through June, the process of seeking budget-focused input to help inform budget deliberations kicks into high gear.
In January, the County hosted a budget workshop and community feedback session. Other opportunities will arise throughout the budget process.
Public input will play an important role as the County develops the recommended budget. Other considerations include program and service delivery data, available resources, the local economy and availability of state and federal funding.
The recommended budget for fiscal year 2026-27 will be released to the public on May 1. The County budget in the current fiscal year totals $8.63 billion.
The County funds many programs and services throughout the region. Some affect nearly all residents. These include emergency preparedness; criminal prosecution and detention facilities; delivery of federal and state social service assistance, access to food and housing for vulnerable people; health programs including behavioral health services; food and restaurant inspections; elections and beach water monitoring.
The County also serves a large, unincorporated area. County government is responsible for the day-to-day things a city government would do, like law enforcement, roads, building permits, animal shelters and protection, along with parks and libraries. Some cities also contract with the County to provide these types of services.
About half the County’s budget comes from the state and federal governments and by law, those funds must be used for specific programs.
The other half comes mostly from property taxes, fees for services and other sources. Some of these funds must still be used in specific ways.
The County can only make decisions on how to invest the remaining portion in the best, most efficient way possible to support the community.
Challenges include expected funding decreases at the state and federal levels, declining revenue, slowing growth, rising costs and other factors that could lead to difficult budget decisions.
After the release of the recommended budget on May 1, people can share their thoughts online by submitting comments through June 11 on Engage San Diego County.
You can also share at in-person and virtual community meetings, or by attending or calling into the Board of Supervisors public budget hearing on June 1.
The public may also give their input by attending or calling into the Board’s budget deliberations and adoption on June 23.
Visit the Clerk of the Board’s website or call 619-531-5434 for information on Board of Supervisors meetings and to request translation services.
To learn more about the budget and how it works, visit the County’s budget website.