Donna Tam/The Times-Standard
Posted: 06/21/2010 01:24:10 AM PDT
In addition to discussing local, state and federal budgets, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will review the county's response to the grand jury's recommendation for a governmental overhaul and discuss whether the comment deadline for the Ridgewood Village environmental impact report should be extended.
The board is expected to approve the roughly $303 million 2010-2011 budget, with general fund expenditures totaling more than $91 million.
The overall budget and the general fund each grew by less than 1 percent from the previous year.
This budget includes a 15 percent cut for most departments. Earlier this month, supervisors restored some proposed cuts to the UC Cooperative Extension, the Office of Emergency Services and the grand jury.
According to a staff report, the board's request restored the grand jury's expenses as well as the cuts made to salaries in the Office of Emergency Services and the UC Cooperative Extension. These funds were covered by a reduction in the contingency reserve, which will be at $893,785.
Other cuts included may result in fewer animals at the animal shelter and reduced maintenance for groundskeeping, trash collection and upkeep of floors and public areas.
A cut from the supervisors' budget includes reducing travel expenses and extra help costs, and forgoing a pay raise. For juvenile hall and probation, the cuts mean one-time transfers of trust funds for both departments and holding 10 positions vacant for probation.
In addition to discussing the local budget, the board will decide whether it wants to weigh in on the state and federal budgets. According to a staff report, more than two-thirds of all revenues included in the 2010-2011 budget are derived from state and federal sources.
At Tuesday's meeting, the board will also consider support for a state budget titled “California Jobs Budget,” proposed by Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles.
”Very briefly, the budget proposal relies heavily on borrowing from the state's Beverage Container Recycling Fund and repaying debt through a new tax on oil severance,” the report said.
The additional revenue could save the CalWORKS program slated for elimination by the governor, provide repayment of a portion of mandated reimbursements owed to local governments and fund community mental health services that were expected to be reduced under the governor's plan, according to the report.
”All these items directly benefit Humboldt County and avoid costs to the county's general fund,” the report said.
The report cautions that the proposed budget would create a “much bigger gap” in the following fiscal year than any of the other proposals, and it would result in a shift of responsibility to counties, including a transfer to county jails for state prisoners sentenced to terms of less than three years.
The supervisors will also discuss the county's response to the grand jury's recommendation for an overhaul of the governmental structure at the county level.
The grand jury released a report in May saying that Humboldt County needs a stronger chief administrator and a part-time Board of Supervisors to be more efficient.
The grand jury made four recommendations: the Board of Supervisors should establish the position of CEO/manager to oversee day-to-day operations, including the authority to hire and terminate county department heads; the board should confine its efforts to setting county policy and other activities; the position of supervisor should be part-time and limited to the duties statutorily required in the setting of county policies; and all appointed department heads, except for legal counsel and independently elected officials, should report to the CEO/manager.
The draft response by the County Administrative Office disagreed with several of these recommendations and indicated that some were “unwarranted” and others “not reasonable, and potentially in violation of state law.”
In other matters, the supervisors will consider issues pertaining to the proposed Ridgewood Village subdivision.
The county released the 3,300-page draft environmental impact report for the subdivision last month. Some residents have expressed concerns about the size of the proposed project. A mixed-use planned community, the project would start with 249 residential units spread across about 76 acres in the Ridgewood Heights/Cutten area, and grow to about 1,442 units.
The developer, Forster-Gill Inc., is proposing multiple phases that would include land set aside for higher density housing, neighborhood parks, commercial space and roads.
The Humboldt County Planning Commission is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the project on July 1, which is the deadline for comments on the environmental impact report.
First District Supervisor Jimmy Smith is proposing an extension on the comment period.
”The Cutten and South Eureka residents are extremely worried that the current comment period for the Ridgewood Village development is inadequate,” a memo from Smith said. “The complex nature of the project requires a detailed analysis that is not possible within the proposed timeframe.”
The board will also discuss a legal services agreement proposed by the Humboldt County Community Development Department regarding the proposed subdivision. The agreement is for obtaining outside legal services for the purpose of drafting required documents related to the project, according to a staff report. The cost of services will be covered by the developer.
Staff reports regarding the meeting are available at www.co.humboldt.ca.us.
http://www.times-standard.com/ci_15341759
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