Barger Backs Fiscal Discipline, Urges ‘Even Hand’ on County Fees

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said Tuesday she supports the fiscal discipline urged by the county’s chief executive officer but said any fee increases must account for the economic pressures already facing small business owners, property owners, and working families.

Her Fifth District includes Pasadena and Altadena, where residents depend on county-administered health, social, and public safety services. The statement came the same day Chief Executive Officer Joseph M. Nicchitta delivered a budget update to the Board of Supervisors projecting a $402 million excess fund balance deficit and signaling that the countywide hiring freeze will likely remain in place through fiscal year 2026-27. The Board is scheduled to act on Final Changes to the FY 2026-27 budget on June 22.

In her statement, Barger said Nicchitta’s report “delivered a sobering assessment of Los Angeles County’s fiscal outlook, including projected budget deficits that are expected to grow in the years ahead.”

“I agree that our Board must make decisions grounded in discipline and long-term sustainability,” Barger said.

Nicchitta’s presentation, titled “Budgetary Pressures and Impacts: Update Prior to Final Changes Budget 2026-27,” reported that the county is operating in a “difficult environment with maximum uncertainty.” The focus, the presentation stated, is on financial sustainability even as demand for services continues to grow.

The March 2026 estimate of the county’s year-end fund balance was $3.26 billion, down from $4.03 billion in 2025 and $4.22 billion in 2024. After carryovers and fund balance requirements, the excess fund balance was projected at negative $402 million — $90 million worse than the November 2025 estimate of negative $313 million.

As part of broader financial sustainability efforts, the CEO identified four cross-departmental workgroups: Central Agency Billing Optimization, Fee Rationalization, Civil Service Reforms, and Naming Rights. Near-term potential, according to the presentation, lies in cost-cutting through central billing and in right-sizing fees to match the true costs of service delivery.

It is that fee question Barger flagged most directly.

“I recognize that maintaining the County’s financial stability may require difficult steps, including ensuring that fees more accurately reflect the actual cost of services,” she said. “However, we must move forward with an even hand. Small business owners, property owners, and working families are already facing significant economic pressures, and those realities must be part of our decision making.”

Barger, a lifelong resident of the district first elected to the Board in 2016, was sworn in for her third and final term in November 2024. The Fifth District covers 2,785 square miles and is home to nearly two million people across Pasadena, Altadena, and the San Gabriel, Santa Clarita, and Antelope valleys.

The Final Adopted Budget is scheduled for September 29. By then, the half-cent Measure ER sales tax — approved by voters in June and set to take effect October 1, 2026 — will be factored into the supplemental budget. Barger was the lone supervisor who opposed placing Measure ER on the June ballot.

“Fiscal responsibility and compassion must go hand in hand,” Barger said. “I am committed to governing our County enterprise in a way that balances financial sustainability with protecting the critical safety net services our most vulnerable residents rely upon.”

The Board’s Final Changes vote is set for June 22.