How Tuolumne County Government Arrives at a Budget
[Note: Tuolumne County’s Wallet: Budget Basics for Residents, Part I, published in the January 2, 2026 newsletter, discussed the 2026 budget.]
Chairman Steve Griefer and Vice Chair Mike Holland first explained how our Board of Supervisors arrives at its annual budget during a break in the Board’s March 18 workshop. To flesh out my understanding, I referenced a memo written by former County Administrative Officer Tracie Riggs and Deputy Liz Peterson that was included in the FY 2024-25 Budget Book (1).
The County’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. Months before each new fiscal year, the Board conducts a workshop to determine “priorities, objectives, and actions” where individual supervisors and department heads present items for Board consideration. These priorities guide departments as they work with the Auditor-Controller to detail projected revenues and expenses in a Recommended Budget.
The Recommended Budget must be approved by the Board of Supervisors before the start of a new fiscal year (and while the current budget is officially closed out) for the county’s money to continue flowing. The Board presented the Recommended Budget for 2026-27 for approval at its June 16 meeting, and it took effect July 1.
Since a Recommended Budget is based on projections of revenue and expenses for the current fiscal year, it must be revisited once the closeout process is completed. The Auditor-Controller goes back to the departments in August and September to gather year-end actual numbers (Revenues and Expenses) and compile a proposed Adopted Budget, which the Board of Supervisors must approve by October 2. This year, the Board of Supervisors will consider the Adopted Budget at its September 22 meeting.
Tuolumne County uses the OpenGov platform (pictured below) to track historical and current budgets through the interactive portal. Anyone can view the county’s budgets and toggle to switch between high-level and detailed presentations.
Engage Tuolumne drafted the table below from information available in the portal to view General Fund actual budgets for FY 2024, 2025, and 2026, as well as the FY 2027 Recommended Budget (2). We calculated absolute and percent changes between 2025 and 2026 to take a closer look at the result of recent decisions to realign budget categories within the larger Governmental Funds category. We encourage our readers to prepare for the Board’s September 22 budget discussion by utilizing the OpenGov portal to learn more.
Sources
- FY 2024-25 Adopted Budget, prepared by County Administrator Tracie Riggs, October 1, 2024.
- Tuolumne County 2026-2027 Recommended Budget, General Fund, OpenGov, Tuolumne County, September 9, 2026.