SAN JOSE — The $8.1 billion Santa Clara County budget approved Friday will finance big-ticket projects already authorized by the Board of Supervisors — an overhaul of the county’s election system, construction of a new Vietnamese American Service Center and the purchase of two major hospitals.
“This budget is our last year of expansion before an economic downturn is upon us,” county CEO Jeff Smith said in a press release issued after supervisors approved the budget. “Revenue growth is slowing down. Funding threats are expected from the state and federal governments. And the demand for services is expected to increase as the cost of services is expected to continue growing in the years ahead.”
The county budget has steadily grown from $4.9 billion five years ago. The 2019-20 version is 15.6 percent larger than the latest one and will cover an almost 10 percent increase in the county workforce, or more than 1,800 new positions.
The spike in jobs is largely a result of the $235 million acquisition of O’Connor Hospital, Saint Louise Regional Hospital and the DePaul Health Center in March, an expense the county is still tabulating as it continues hiring staff and integrating the hospitals into its health care system. The county has set aside $20 million to pay for debt from purchasing the hospitals.
To accommodate its expanding workforce, the county made two transactions last year for office space. It’s allocated $100 million to renovate a former Cisco Systems building in north San Jose and $5 million for further renovation of an office campus on Silver Creek Valley Road.
Santa Clara County has enjoyed steady rise in property values for the last several years and projects getting $1.1 billion during the new fiscal year/
The county is also setting aside $20 million as a hedge against possible major federal changes to the Medicaid program and other proposed cuts to health care spending. The county currently relies on more than $125 million in federal health care dollars.
The budget includes $7.1 million toward sweeping changes to the elections system. Supervisors in April agreed to implement the Voter’s Choice Act, which will switch the county from a traditional neighborhood polling model to one where residents can cast a ballot at any voting center in the county.
The budget also allocates $37 million toward construction this summer of a Vietnamese American Service Center on Senter Road. The center, which would be a hub for health and social services, has been discussed since a 2012 survey found significant health disparities and access barriers to key services for Vietnamese Americans.
Other big-ticket items include the continued expansion of an emergency room at Valley Medical Center, a new animal services center and a new juvenile and adult psychiatric inpatient center.
In addition, the supervisors have made 60 requests to spend more than $6.6 million on one-time grants and sponsorships to nonprofits and community groups. The largest requests included $350,000 for Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, $325,000 for the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking and $250,000 for West Valley Community Services to expand food pantry services.
Supervisors Mike Wasserman and Susan Ellenberg have requested a policy change that would limit each supervisor’s total requests to $500,000 a year.
Contact Thy Vo at 408-200-1055 or tvo@bayareanewsgroup.com.