San Benito County continues to discuss budgetary concerns

SAN BENITO COUNTY, Calif. (KION) - Budget discussions are continuing in San Benito County.

The Board of Supervisors is going over the latest recommendations today amid concerns over potential layoffs.

Recommendations include removing positions that were funded by ARPA grants, along with other positions.

These cuts have been the subject of discussion since unexpected layoff notices were delivered to various departments last week.

Supervisor Ignacio Velaquez spoke about the need to be clear on budget issues.

“It is our responsibility to make sure that all of us are 100 percent clear so misinformation doesn’t keep going out,” Velaquez said.

A member of the public spoke out on the lack of transparency.

"You haven’t been transparent. You haven’t been transparent with the fire contract. You weren’t transparent about a lot of things.”

Another recommendation includes a contingency fund of only $1 million instead of the previous $2 million set aside.

The board of supervisors voted to dissolve the budget management team and the budget ad-hoc committee to speak with department heads one-on-one.

The final adoption of the budget is scheduled for June 23.