To: Board of Supervisors
From: County Administrative Office
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: 4/5th
SUBJECT:
title
Transfer from Contingencies in the Amount of $46,750 for Public Opinion Research on Resident Priorities of County Services in the County Administrative Office Budget 1100-103 (4/5 Vote Required)
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve the attached supplemental budget for public opinion research in the amount of $46,750 in County Administrative Office Budget 1100-103 (4/5 Vote Required).
Body
STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board’s Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Core Services/Other
Strategic Plan Category: 9999 - Core Services/Other
DISCUSSION:
During the fiscal year (FY) 2026-27 Budget Hearings, your Board directed staff to study approaches that would lead to closing the General Fund’s structural deficit while causing the least amount of impact to the community. The General Fund’s structural deficit, meaning the difference between estimated ongoing revenues and estimated ongoing expenditures, is nearly $12 million for FY 2026-27. To cover that gap the county relies on use of fund balance, which is comprised of expenditure savings from the prior year, as well as revenues that came in higher than projected, as it has done for many years.
To reiterate the discussion from that meeting, your Board is not using General Fund Reserves to fund operations for the current FY. The General Fund Reserve is covered by policy and receives an annual allocation, and the balance accumulates each year. It is intended to cover one-time emergency expenditures, such as recovery from a natural disaster, as opposed to daily operations.
In response to your Board’s direction, the County Administrative Office (CAO) has been working with each department to better understand the wide variety of programs provided, which programs are mandated and the level of service needed to meet those mandates and which programs or services are discretionary. As part of this process, the CAO is recommending that staff conduct public opinion research to better understand local residents’ priorities in terms of county services. Staff would engage a vendor to carry out the research using scientific methods and statistically viable sample sizes to produce results that are reasonably representative of the community. If service reduction is an option your Board eventually considers to help close the structural deficit, the results will help to minimize impacts to the community.
The recommended research process involves conducting 20-minute surveys of 600 residents (not just voters) ages 18 and older across the county, with residents from each supervisorial district being meaningfully represented. The methodology would include a dual-mode survey that obtains interviews via postcard, cell phone, landline, email and text message invitations. The research would build upon other projects dating back to 2013, when voters were surveyed for Measure Z.
SOURCE OF FUNDING:
General Fund Contingencies
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
|
Expenditures (1100-103) |
FY26-27 |
|
Budgeted Expenses |
|
|
Additional Appropriation Requested |
$46,750 |
|
Total Expenditures |
$46,750 |
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
|
Funding Sources (1100-990) |
FY26-27 |
|
Contingencies |
$46,750 |
|
Total Funding Sources |
$46,750 |
*Projected amounts are estimates and are subject to change.
Narrative Explanation of Financial Impact:
Approval of the attached appropriation transfer will allow the CAO Management and Budget Team, 1100-103, to fund public opinion research in the amount of $46,750 as a one-time transfer from General Fund Contingencies, 1100-990, in FY 2026-27. The FY 2026-27 General Fund Contingencies has an available balance of $3,404,376. If approved, this transfer would bring the balance to $3,357,626
STAFFING IMPACT:
Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impact:
No additional staff are recommended. Providing funding to have a vendor perform this service will provide statistically valid results that can inform policy decisions. Staff will work with the vendor on development of any questionnaires and analysis of the research results. The vendor will conduct hundreds of phone calls, and other engagement to survey the community. County staff do not have the expertise or staffing resources to conduct public opinion surveys of this kind without using a vendor.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
All county departments
ALTERNATIVES TO STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
Your Board could choose to have fewer people surveyed (as few as 400), conduct shorter, 15-minute interviews and/or survey voters rather than residents. Each option would reduce the cost, with the lowest-cost option being a 15-minute survey of 400 likely voters, which would cost $29,500. If your Board desired an alternative, staff would recommend a 15-minute survey of 600 likely voters, which would cost $36,750.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Appropriation Transfer CAO 1100-103
2. Humboldt County Budget Survey Proposal
PREVIOUS ACTION/REFERRAL:
Meeting of: June 15, 2026
File No.: 26-629