FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — Fresno County officials are facing growing financial pressure as rising fuel costs and potential federal funding cuts compound an already projected multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.
The county is forecasting a $17.5 million deficit for the next fiscal year, and officials say unexpected spikes in fuel prices are already straining the current budget.
Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig said fuel costs have surged far beyond what planners anticipated.
“The current budget year that we were in, we did not anticipate fuel cost to go up more than 50%, which we were seeing right now,” Magsig said.
Fuel prices have climbed rapidly in recent months. In January, Fresno County paid $2.99 per gallon. By March 4, immediately following the first strikes on Iran, the price rose to $3.52 per gallon. Just five days later, on March 9, costs jumped again to $4.58 per gallon.
Magsig said the situation could worsen if fuel prices continue to rise.
“Where I do have concerns is if we see gas prices staying at these higher levels and even moving to $8 to $9 a gallon, you’re looking at almost a tripling and cost from what we are paying in January 2026,” he said.
As budget deadlines approach, the county is also preparing for the effects of HR1, also known as President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” The legislation is expected to make significant cuts to federal programs such as SNAP and Medicaid.
Over the next two to three years, county officials estimate those changes could cost Fresno County between $70 million and $300 million in lost funding.
“The county cannot take a $300 million hit. We don’t have $300 million extra that are sitting around,” Magsig said.
In response, county leaders have placed 20 different departments on alert and asked them to prepare for a worst-case financial scenario.
“We’ve asked for them to start modeling what it would look like as we approach the next budget year if there were no increases right now to their budget. We’ve also asked them to model, what if we had to cut 5%, what would that look like as far as personnel and workload,” Magsig said.
County leaders are also exploring potential new revenue options, including a transient occupancy tax that would apply to tourism-related lodging, such as hotels and vacation rentals.
Magsig said that the measure could appear on the ballot as early as November.
The county does have reserves set aside for unexpected expenses, such as rising fuel costs, and officials are considering tapping into those funds.
The county’s next budget is set to take effect on October 1.
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