Proposed 2026-27 Budget

Overall Budget Summary

The Proposed Budget recommends status quo staffing of 1.0 full-time-equivalent (FTE) position, including negotiated salary and benefit increases. Appropriations total $329,385, funded entirely by a General Fund Contribution of $189,576 and a one-time use of General Fund Reserves of $139,809.

Total expenses increase by $161,393 largely from a $119,704 increase in facility charges associated with relocation within the South County Government Center.

Environmental Horticulture and Controlled Environment Agriculture: An Environmental Horticulture and Controlled Environment Agriculture Advisor is conducting a regional needs assessment to align research and extension activities with industry priorities such as water and nutrient management, pest pressures, labor, and technology adoption. The assessment includes stakeholder interviews, surveys, and listening sessions. The advisor seeks to strengthen collaboration with industry and agency partners while matching findings with Master Gardener and community education efforts to ensure responsive, coordinated outreach.

Forest Stewardship: Implementation of forest health, fuel reduction, and wildfire resilience projects continue to expand across the region. As the pace and scale of implementation increases, the need for scientific guidance on efficacy, longevity, and best practices also increases. Forests Program maintains a regional research and monitoring network to evaluate stewardship practices across multiple sites and refines stewardship strategies and direct limited resources toward the most effective approaches.

Post-Fire Forest Recovery and Management: Ongoing recovery from the CZU Lightning Complex Fires continues to present complex land management challenges including post-fire salvage, vegetation management, and long-term forest recovery. The Forests Program conducts longitudinal research, develops best practice guidance, and tracks trends over time to understand invasive species establishment, tree survivorship, and elevated reburn risk to help managers make informed decisions at landscape scale.

Santa Cruz County 4-H: The Santa Cruz County 4-H program is expanding partnerships and increasing community-based programming, including afterschool and informal education opportunities. As participation grows, the program faces challenges in securing sufficient funding to support supplies and materials needed to provide free and accessible programming to our community in an afterschool setting.

Soil Disinfestation Research and Implementation: Research on steam as an alternative to chemical soil fumigation for soil pathogen management is a multi-year project supported by a $1,000,000 grant funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture and industry participation. The steam disinfestation project is expected to continue through at least 2028.