EQUITY COMMITTEE
Meeting Date: October 21, 2024
Subject: Budget Equity
Submitted For: Equity Committee
Department: Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice
Referral No:
Referral Name: Budget Equity
Presenter: Budget Justice Coalition and Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice
Contact: Sara Gurdian, sara@budgetjusticecc.org <mailto:sara@budgetjusticecc.org> Kendra Carr, kendra.carr@oresj.cccounty.us <mailto:kendra.carr@oresj.cccounty.us>
Referral History:
Aligned in a mission to achieve budget transparency and equity in Contra Costa County, the Budget Justice Coalition (BJC) and the Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice (ORESJ) met for six months (January - June 2024) to research and review budget equity tools across the state. The collaboration met with Monterey County racial equity staff to learn about their creation and implementation of the budget equity process. BJC then set up a table for its member organizations to discuss the selected model and shared with community networks for feedback. The ORESJ gathered feedback from the Cross Department Racial Equity Workgroup about the budget equity tool (attached) and what it would take to complete it. The BJC and ORESJ brought feedback from community coalition members and department staff to finalize a recommendation for the FY 25-26 budget equity process.
Referral Update:
ORESJ and BJC will bring a two-part recommendation:
1) All county departments answer the following three questions as a part of the annual budget process administered by the County Administrator’s Office:
a. How has your department used or plan to use racial/ethnic and economic data to develop and prioritize criteria for resource distribution? What are some service disparities or gaps your department has identified, and how does your overall budget and/or new funding requests address them? Identify specific programs, policies, practices, and structures that are intended to address historical and/or ongoing racial injustice and harm.
b. In what ways will your department use the budgeting process to advance equity? Examples could include adding staff dedicated to equity initiatives, providing staff with racial equity training opportunities, or investing in data collection or analysis tools to illuminate relevant outcomes.
c. Describe how your department engages with community members, particularly those identified as impacted by service gaps and disparities, in the budget development and evaluation process. Discuss communication and outreach strategies, evaluation of impact, accountability measures, assessment of engagement, and how community engagement drives resource allocations and aligns with equity outcomes.
2) The members of the Cross Department Racial Equity Workgroup will be invited to support ORESJ and BJC in a soft launch of the full budget equity tool, and answer all seven questions included on the attached FY 25-26 budget equity tool.
Recommendation(s)/Next Step(s):
RECEIVE presentation and recommendations from the Budget Justice Coalition and the Office of Racial Equity and Social Justice about the use of a budget equity tool in the FY 2025-2026 annual budget process, and PROVIDE direction on next steps.
Fiscal Impact (if any):
N/A