Spending and the county contribution rise by about one-third
Clerk of the Board appropriations rise from $1,060,197 in fiscal 2024–25 actual results to $1,400,744 in Kern County’s adopted 2025–26 budget. The $340,547 increase equals 32.1%.
Revenue rises $34,978 to $177,500, but that offsets only about one-tenth of the added spending. The magnitude of net county cost increases from $917,675 to $1,223,244—$305,569, or 33.3%.
| Measure | FY 2024–25 actual | FY 2025–26 adopted | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $142,522 | $177,500 | +24.5% |
| Salaries and benefits | $846,764 | $1.08M | +27.9% |
| Services and supplies | $239,375 | $318,339 | +33.0% |
| Other financing uses | $0 | $79,109 | +$79,109 |
| Net county cost | $917,675 | $1.22M | +33.3% |
Payroll supplies most of the new spending authority
Salaries and benefits rise $236,532, or 27.9%, accounting for 69.5% of the appropriation increase. Services and supplies add $78,964, and a new $79,109 other-financing-use line appears.
Those additions are partly offset by expenditure transfers and reimbursements that grow from $25,942 to $80,000. Schedule 9 does not identify the new financing-use recipient or the reimbursing program.
The records show cost growth without service measures
The original contribution is the category-level finding that nearly seven of every ten added appropriation dollars are in payroll, while the county-financed share rises slightly faster than the overall budget.
Board agenda volume, public-record requests, assessment appeals and hearing workload are absent from the summary. Those measures are necessary to assess whether the higher budget corresponds to more work or faster public access.
Method and limitations
The newsroom transcribed Schedule 9’s actual and adopted columns and calculated changes from full dollar amounts. Net county cost is reported here as a positive financing requirement even though the county prints the balancing entry with a minus sign.
Adopted figures can change during the year. Payroll records, position schedules, contracts and final actuals are needed to test how the authorization was used.