The Monterey County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a hiring freeze on Tuesday.

The freeze will prevent offices and departments, that are funded by the general fund discretionary revenue, from filling positions unless an exemption is requested and approved by the County Administrative Office.

The general fund is the overall money that supports various government functions, while the discretionary revenue refers specifically to the portion of the general fund that the Board uses for different uses.

Officials with the County Administrative Office explained that the move will address ongoing fiscal challenging, including the impacts of an inflated housing market, increased and more frequent emergency response costs with delayed or no federal and state reimbursements, dwindling state and federal one-time grant resources and rising labor costs.

The county’s fiscal year budget was balanced when the board approved it, but county officials say they have identified rising costs that will impact the budget into 2025 and 2026.

The County Administrative Office is projecting a $20 million deficit for fiscal year 2025-2026.

Several people spoke during public comment at Tuesday’s meeting, including District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni and Sheriff Tina Nieto who said their departments would be affected by the freeze, as they are already working with staffing shortages.

“I understand the financial needs of the county this like taking a sledge hammer to our departments instead of taking a surgical, strategic approach. Right now I have 12 attorney vacancies in my office, the only way I’m able to minimally attend the courts is with two retired annuitants which, as you know, will be cycling off and cannot be relied on for full-time work,” Pacioni said.

Nieto said deputies with the Sheriff’s Office are already working long hours and picking up other tasks and jobs to help.

“Public safety is a fundamental right for everyone, and this hiring freeze is going to have a devastating impact on all our communities,” Nieto said. “We’ve worked to fill our vacancies and it’s been a lot of hours by a lot of people, and we thought we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, but his darkens the tunnel immediately. Law enforcement is professionals and sworn officers, and this will affect our professional staff and sworn officers will be called in to do those jobs.”

The board was largely supportive of the freeze, saying if something was not done now then the county will suffer in the future. The board is scheduled to receive another report from the County Administrative Office on Nov. 12 with guidelines on how departments can request exemptions.