County Deep-Sixes Funding for 75 Nonprofit Programs

Seventy-five social service programs that have traditionally relied upon the County of Santa Barbara for financial support are slated to get nothing as part of this year’s budget document proposed by County CEO Chandra Waller. In addition, the current budget proposal effectively eliminates all staff support — 1.5 full-time equivalent positions — for the Human Services Commission, the commission that since 1977 has determined how much money should be allocated to the agencies that appeal to it for grants.

The proposed cuts to these agencies will no doubt generate considerable political heat between now and June 15, when the county supervisors are expected to review this plan. Driving the funding elimination is the county’s dire fiscal predicament. At last blush, the county’s budget shortfall weighed in at $72 million; more than 280 positions have been identified for elimination.

The county’s Human Services Commission had recommended giving grants ranging from $5,000 to $85,000 to a group of nonprofit organizations ranging from the Rape Crisis Center to the Family Service Agency to Easy Lift Transportation. The Family Service Agency funds five different programs, in part, with county grant money. These nonprofits, the thinking goes, have been able to serve vulnerable populations far more effectively and cheaply than could the County of Santa Barbara.

From 1977 until last year, these grants came directly out of the county’s General Fund, the deep pockets out of which county government funds most of its basic functions. Last year, the Human Services Commission was cut off from General Fund support and was supported with money from one-time revenue sources. As the county’s budget crisis has worsened, county bean counters determined there were no more one-time funds available.

This decision came, however, after the Human Services Commission met many times to deliberate which agencies would receive support in the coming fiscal year. While none of the nonprofit beneficiaries are funded 100 percent with such grants, the county aid is extremely important as it is often used to leverage matching funds from other government entities or grant sources. The trickle-down effect of the proposed cuts has yet to be calculated.