Brennan Suggests Funding Relief For Struggling County Budget

Photo by: BJ Hansen

Sonora, CA — The board chair of the Tuolumne County Supervisors, Sherri Brennan, writes about the struggle rural county budgets are under due to COVID-19 costs.

She notes, “This pandemic has also forced county governments, which provide essential services like public health and law enforcement, to put further strain on budgets.”

Brennan calls on Congress and the Trump Administration to provide greater funding options to local governments, especially those counties with large tracts of federal lands like Tuolumne County. She also outlines a plan using the Payments In-Lieu of Taxes (PILT) and the Secure Rural Schools programs to help lessen that financial strain.

You can read the full blog by clicking here Supervisor Brennan’s District One has most of the county’s commercial retailers and includes Sonora, Shaws Flat, Apple Valley, and areas south of Big Hill and Phoenix Lake. You can find rundown of all the blogs by clicking here.

Of note this week the Tuolumne County Board of Supervisors held a special meeting to discuss possible cuts in staff and services due to the financial impacts of the pandemic that has left a $6-7 million budget shortfall for Fiscal Year 2020-21, as reported here.