MODESTO — Stanislaus County is in a solid financial position right now, but “is crawling out further and further on a limb,” according to CEO Jody Hayes.

Hayes spoke during the Board of Supervisors’ consideration of the 2026 budget on Tuesday. He said that risk is tempered with the knowledge that revenues could come in higher than expected and expenditures lower.

“Our revenues are really flattening out,” said Hayes. “That’s not an optimal starting place for us after many years of revenue growth. It’s also not unexpected that after all those years we’re going to see a flattening out. And that’s what’s occurring at the start of this budget. It also reflects what you might see in the larger economy.”

A proposed 2026 budget was approved by the supervisors on June 10, providing the initial budget and spending authority for the 2026 fiscal year, effective July 1 of this year. 

The budget totals $1.89 billion, and will require the use of $46 million out of reserves to balance the budget.

The supervisors voted to approve the budget by a 4-1 vote, with District 5 Supervisor Channce Condit alone in opposition.

“I opposed the proposed budget back in (June) and I plan on opposing the budget here today,” Condit said before casting his vote. “Again, it is more of a philosophical argument about a bottom-up approach when it comes to budgeting our government and allocation of our funds, and prioritizing our line staff. I’m going to hold that position. I’ve taken a pretty hard line on it, and I’m going to stay consistent.”

“I voted against the adopted county budget because I believe our county government is too top-heavy,” Condit said. “We need to prioritize resources for frontline services that directly benefit our residents, rather than expanding administrative overhead. My focus remains on ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent efficiently and in a way that best serves our communities.”

District 2 Supervisor Vito Chiesa, who represents Turlock, Hughson and Denair, gave what he called “Vito’s View of the World” before casting his vote.

“Generally, you look at trend lines and there’s not a single one of them that’s on a positive upswing,” Chiesa said. “The uncertainties in state and local government… the federal government is sending less money to the state and local government. We see the uncertainty in that component. Reserves: we were over $250 million and we intentionally spent it down to $214 million, which is where we’re starting this year. And if you follow the trend line, it shows $168 million (in reserve), which would be way under my comfort level.”

Chiesa said he’s concerned about the county dipping into reserves, but admitted he tends to be fiscally conservative because he’s a farmer.

“I always think the sky is falling and there’s not going to be a crop and it’s going to rain during harvest,” said Chiesa.