Blog note: this article references
a grand jury report.
The proposed 2015-2016 fiscal
year budget going before the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday
shows the county will get a revenue boost from Measure Z revenue and property
tax revenues, but also a larger deficit than anticipated earlier this year.
The county’s total proposed
budget is estimated to be about $318 million, a 4 percent increase over last
year, according to the staff report.
“This increase includes $8.9
million for Measure Z expenditures ... and the remainder is attributable to
salary and benefit increases in Health and Human Services as health insurance
and retirement continue to rise,” according to the staff report.
Revenues are projected to
increase 5 percent compared to the current fiscal year, with an estimated $111
million coming into the county. However, state-mandated expenses as well as
other one-time expenditures have increased the county’s structural deficit to
$3 million rather than the $2.2 million estimated during the board’s third
quarter budget review.
“This increase is necessary to
fund a contribution to the General Reserve as previously approved by your
Board, state mandated ongoing costs and the preservation of public safety
services,” the staff report states.
Some of these larger costs include
a $575,000 allocation to the Probation Department due to the department losing
state and federal funding after changes to the Social Security Act.
“I can say that my general
feeling is that we are going in the right direction,” 2nd District Supervisor
and board Chairwoman Estelle Fennell said. “We have to make these kind of
decisions now, but I think that that creates a foundation for a better-looking
budget in the future.”
First District Supervisor Rex
Bohn said that he hopes some of the state-mandated expenses will eventually be
picked up by the state.
“We’re looking at getting some money back from
the state with their increased budget windfall since they have a surplus,” he
said.
Aviation Fund
The board is also turning its
attention to the county’s Aviation Enterprise Fund, recently the subject of a
Humboldt County grand jury report due to its negative fund balance and
continuing deficit.
The Aviation Fund is expected
to enter the next fiscal year on July 1 with an over $826,000 negative fund
balance — a nearly $300,000 drop from the start of the fiscal year. The fund’s
deficit is also expected to increase to $500,000 from about $325,000. The
decline is due to a lack of flights in and out of the county as well as other
factors such as the loss in fuel sales and fuel customers.
“It’s accounted for differently in the budget
because it is supposed to be self-sustaining, and it’s not,” Fennell said. “It
isn’t sustainable and that is very problematic. I recognize that. Where we go
from here is a big question.”
On Tuesday, the board will
consider whether to approve a $500,000 loan from the Public Works Department’s
motor pool fund to the Aviation Fund to balance the budget and maintain
required staffing levels. The Aviation Division is part of the Public Works
Department.
“The motor pool — with the
lower fuel prices and some efficiencies that Public Works has used — has a
surplus right now so we’re going to have to make a loan because of the deficit
on the pretense of getting a new airline,” Bohn said.
Measure Z
The $8.9 million in expected
revenue from the county’s half-percent sales tax Measure Z will also be a topic
of discussion at the Tuesday meeting, but the board will not be making a final
decision on how the funds will be spent until June 8.
The Measure Z Citizens’
Advisory Committee submitted its final funding recommendations to the board
earlier this month, which include unfreezing positions at the sheriff’s office
and district attorney’s office, probation department hires, Willow Creek
ambulance services and funding for the Eureka Police Department’s Mobile
Intervention and Services Team. The tax measure was promoted to the voters as a
boost to public safety services.
Bohn said the committee, after
sorting through nearly 50 applications, “followed really well with what the
public expected and asked for.”
May
29, 2015
Eureka
Times-Standard
By Will
Houston
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