Plumas Supervisors Adopt 2026-2027 Budget, County Faces Ongoing Deficit

QUINCY — Following the last of a series of public hearings held this month, Plumas County’s Board of Supervisors voted September 29 to adopt a county budget totaling $196.7 million for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. The largest elements of the budget are the general fund ($69.2 million), which supports the operation of most county departments, and special revenue funds ($106.4 million), most of which support required government services, such as road construction and maintenance, public health, social services, and emergency response.

In a letter submitted with the budget, County Administrative Officer Dan Pargee and Auditor-Controller Martee Nieman acknowledged that the county general fund is still facing a long-term structural deficit with expenses exceeding revenues. A 1% sales tax levy proposed earlier this year to address the deficit failed to win approval in the June election. The county’s budget team had set a goal of reducing the deficit in the coming year to $4.2 million and “nearly met” that goal. However, this required use of existing fund balances, which would not be available in the future, Nieman and Pargee said during the June 29 meeting.

Both officials said that the proposed budget would maintain essential services and cover operational needs, but emphasized the need to closely monitor expenses and revenues during the coming year to ensure that county operations remain within the approved budget.

No member of the public commented on the proposed budget during the hearing.

In discussion by the Board, District 4 Supervisor Jeff Engel recommended that, since the sales tax measure failed, county departments should review their fee schedules to ensure that user fees cover the cost of providing services. Fees should be affordable, but many haven’t been updated in years and no longer cover costs, he said. Pargee said he would bring proposals for fee schedule revisions to the Board in the coming year for decisions as to which fees should be set to recover 100% of related costs and which should be subsidized by the county to reduce costs to users.

The proposed FY 2026-2027 budget was adopted by unanimous vote after a motion by Supervisor Tom McGowan and a second by Supervisor Kevin Goss.