Shasta County’s June 9 budget hearing put some hard numbers behind the county’s fiscal caution.
County staff said the county’s PERS liability is about $1 billion, with an unfunded liability of roughly $322 million, according to the hearing materials. Staff also said general reserves would land at 14.8% of general fund expenditures, below the county’s stated target.
The disclosures came during discussion of the county’s recommended FY 26-27 budget, which was presented in a public hearing ahead of final adoption later this month. The reserve level and pension figures help explain why county leaders have framed the budget as a cautious one, with room to absorb only so much pressure from retirement costs and other ongoing obligations.
The hearing summary says the board will take up budget adoption on June 23. The materials reviewed for this story do not show a specific corrective action proposed at the hearing, and they do not resolve how the county expects future PERS contributions to change beyond the current budget cycle.
