Dozens of Santa Barbara County employees beginning this week will learn they might lose their jobs this summer—as officials seek to balance a budget stressed by plunging state and federal support for healthcare, social services and vulnerable populations.
The cuts currently proposed would force the closure of Public Health pharmacies serving uninsured patients in Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, leaving Lompoc as the one remaining county-run option.
“We’re in an operating environment of national uncertainty and inflation pressures, state deficits, federal changes to our major safety net programs and continued local pressures like housing affordability and workforce retention,” county CEO Mona Miyasato recently told the Board of Supervisors. “These trends influence revenue demand and are cause for caution.”
Job loss numbers in flux
County officials are attempting to balance an estimated $1.64 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2026-27. At last count, they had identified as many as 131 filled positions and 118 vacant roles for elimination across multiple departments as part of an ongoing effort to cut more than $70 million.
Starting this coming Thursday, at least 83 unionized employees were expected to receive mandated letters notifying them their jobs might be eliminated.
A final decision by the county’s five supervisors is expected in June—and officials stress that the number of positions cut might shrink. Some affected employees might find new work at the county in open roles.
The looming reductions come as workers are already stretched thin, said Laura Robinson, executive director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 620, which represents nearly 2,200 people across every county department.
“Departments have been operating below minimum staffing levels, relying on overtime and stretching employees to cover multiple roles,” Robinson told supervisors Tuesday, adding layoffs would exacerbate the pain. “The system is strained and is nearing a breaking point.”
At SEIU Local 721, Regional Director Carson Acosta said county-employed members can’t bear even one more cut.
“Particularly our social workers,” he said. “Eliminating even one more social worker will result in children falling through the cracks and more children not having a social worker assigned to their case.”
A federal squeeze
County healthcare centers would see the majority of staff cuts, with nearly 100 roles—72 filled and 25 currently vacant—proposed to be eliminated, at an estimated savings of $13.2 million, officials say.
The pharmacy closures would include the elimination of nine staff positions, seven of which are currently filled, and would save an estimated $8.4 million.
If the layoffs are approved, it would be the largest number of positions eliminated by the county since 2017, when 59 social services staff members lost their jobs amid rising pension costs, reduced state and federal funding and a push to fund the Northern Branch Jail.
At the county CEO’s office, officials placed blame for the current crunch squarely on a massive reduction in state and federal funding including Medi-Cal reimbursements, with much of the decrease driven by HR 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” approved by Congress and signed by President Trump in July.
The bill shifted an estimated $9.5 billion in annual safety net costs to the California’s 58 counties, according to the California State Association of Counties (CSAC). This burden included more than $10 million Santa Barbara County will no longer receive, Miyasato said.
With the proposed state budget projected to be billions of dollars in the red, counties can’t rely on Sacramento to backfill the federal funding losses, she said.
“These counties are having to find General Fund dollars or other dollars, or make cuts, that extend across core county services,” she said. “Many of the cuts people are rightly upset about.”
More discussions ahead
At SEIU, Robinson said she’s been encouraging members who might receive layoff notifications to remain mindful that the job losses aren’t finalized. The union plans to rally opposition to the layoffs at the supervisors’ regular Tuesday meeting this week in Santa Maria.
“We are trying to see what we can do. We still have about a month,” said Robinson, who held out hope the county might change course.
“This is not our county leadership’s fault,” she said, adding that after the rally the union will continue to engage officials with recommendations for staving off layoffs. These include amplifying incentives for early retirements to open up roles and reconsidering when to spend money set aside to fund a planned expansion of the Northern Branch Jail.
Reducing pharmacy hours but not closing locations completely might be another workable solution, Robinson said.
“I’ve been saying throughout this process, ‘Immediate funds for immediate needs,’” she said.
Real world impacts
County pharmacy technician Veronica Pulido wondered aloud where uninsured patients will go for their prescriptions if services dwindle.
“Think about all those uninsured patients. They have nowhere to go,” Pulido told supervisors on Tuesday. She warned staff reductions would increase the potential for dangerous errors among stressed out staff preparing patients’ medications.
Christina Rubio has worked as an administrative office professional at the Sheriff’s Office since 2018.
“In that time, I have worked shifts at several of our stations including both jails,” she told the supervisors, noting civilian staff regularly provide shelter to school children waiting for rides, to senior citizens targeted in financial scams and to sexual assault survivors. “We are continuity, stability, and often the first point of contact for the public.
“When civilian positions are defunded, those quiet but critical services disappear, and it is the community that will feel that impact immediately,” Rubio said.
Francisco Hernandez works at the Social Services Department in IT.
“Many of us on the technical side feel that we’ve been overlooked during this process,” he told the supervisors. “And while we may not always be visible, we are responsible for maintaining systems that staff depend on to do their jobs, and the public relies on to access essential services
“I purchased a home, and my family just welcomed a new baby,” Hernandez said. “This is where we plan to build our future. Now, with the risks of the layoffs, I’m facing the very real possibility of losing that stability… I know I’m not alone. There are others in similar positions who are quietly dealing with the same uncertainty and fear.”
Strong financial reserves
In crafting the proposed county budget, officials are focused not only on the coming fiscal year, but also on the next.
Thinking ahead to 2027-28 was a strategic decision that’s impacting current choices, Miyasato said.
“For County Health, this is not about whether we value clinics or the services,” she said. It’s about making targeted adjustments now to avoid deeper, more disruptive cuts later. Choosing not to act does not avoid the reductions. It only delays and magnifies them.”
Despite financial pressures, the county maintains a strong financial foundation with $47.9 million in strategic reserves and a Triple-A credit rating.
“A lot of people look at our strategic reserve and say, ’Man, it would be really nice just to go in there and take care of this problem that we have today,’” Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino said Tuesday. “But the problem is going to be here next year, and then you don’t have the reserves for next year and the year after… So it’s a balancing act.”
