Jessica Cejnar Andrews / Thursday, Sept. 26 @ 12:47 p.m. / Local Government
If It Weren't For Staffing Shortage, Del Norte County Would Be 'In The Red,' Chris Howard Notes; Board of Supervisors Adopts 2024-25 Budget
Previously:
• Budget Discussion Turns Testy When Starkey, Short Request Raises For Road Workers
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A three-month long process that included public workshops and numerous discussions over salary adjustments and employee contracts concluded Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors adopted Del Norte County’s 2024-25 final budget.
But the adoption comes on the heels of a presentation from Sheriff Garrett Scott on a proposal to freeze and eliminate vacant positions in an effort to boost his staff, which means there could be further changes on the horizon.
Yet, Supervisor Chris Howard pointed out that if it weren't for those vacant sheriff’s office positions and others in general fund departments, Del Norte’s budget would show a deficit.
“That is of concern, I guess, and I want our decision-making process as a Board fully — as I hear this word batted [around] during our meeting all the time — transparent,” Howard told County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez. “The decisions we’re making could potentially put us in the red if all of our positions are full.”
Lopez confirmed Howard’s observation, saying that if the county were 100 percent fully staffed, “the general fund would be out $4 million.” However, he said, that hasn’t happened in the 25 years he’s worked at the county, though staffing shortages have become more significant in the last three to four years.
On Tuesday, following a 14-day public hearing process, the Board unanimously approved a total fiscal year recommended budget of about $242.6 million. This includes a general fund budget of roughly $45.8 million.
In July, Howard and Board Chairman Dean Wilson brought up those vacancies when the Board discussed proposed changes to the salary schedule in the Road Department. They both wanted to see the results of a compensation analysis before raising staff wages with Howard saying he didn’t think it would solve the staffing shortage.
In July, Lopez told the Wild Rivers Outpost that the county had an overall staff vacancy rate of 27.8 percent as of April.
In their budget report, Lopez and County Auditor-Controller Clinton Schaad noted that employee-related costs, including salaries, retirement, medical and dental benefits and workers compensation, account for 55 percent of the final recommended budget.
Staffing drives much of these costs — and is one of the only factors the county can control, Lopez and Schaad write — but it’s often a struggle to meet demands for service.
“It has become increasingly more obvious that many of our service departments do not have the necessary resources/staffing to meet the demands of the community, mandated programs or other County Departments,” Lopez and Schaad write. “It is worth mentioning, this is primarily a recruitment and retention issue and not the number of positions allocated to departments by the Board.”
Lopez and Schaad also noted that at the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year, the general fund’s balance was about $7.1 million. Roughly $4.5 million is being used to offset expenditures that exceed revenues in the 2024-25 final recommended budget, leaving $2.6 million in unallocated moneys.
On Tuesday, Howard said the vacant positions within the sheriff’s office and other general fund departments equate to a “$4.5 million-plus in salary savings”.
According to Lopez, salary savings for the previous fiscal year was about $2.7 million. He said there’s another $4.3 million on top of that that was due capital improvement project that were budgeted for but didn’t happen. Car purchases also take six to eight months, Lopez said.
“A lot of times we’ll budget for things that don’t happen during the year,” he said.
Lopez said he and Schaad budget to full staff, whether or not it’s actually full.
Howard brought up the county’s unfunded liability through the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and Other Post Employment Benefits, including healthcare and dental.
According to Lopez and Schaad’s staff report, the county currently does not contribute anything to the unfunded OPEB liability, which compounds the overall unfunded liability each year. That currently has a combined valuation of more than $130 million, according to the staff report.
The county's contribution to PERS for the 2024-25 fiscal year is projected to be about $7.8 million, which also includes a lump sum payment for its unfunded accrued liability, according to the staff report.
Howard said he wanted to use the one-time funding “bubbles” from salary savings to pay that down.
“We keep seeing those costs increase in our balance sheet every year and that’s a concern to me,” he said.
Lopez said the Board of Supervisors approved a pension policy this year, which dictates that a percentage of county payroll goes to pensions and other unfunded liabilities.
“That really comes from the direction of the Board also,” he said. “If we ever want to build in a 1-percent or a 2-percent or a 3-percent across-the-board in the county budget to go toward that unfunded liability, that’s an option this Board approved.”
In addition to supporting Howard’s call to put money toward addressing the unfunded liability, District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey called for setting aside some of that fund balance for “protected reserves.”
“We have $300,000 I think in protected reserves now,” she said. “I’d like to see that grow to about $1 million just for that rainy day. We’re in blue skies right now, but we need to think about the storms.”
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