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Washoe County manager outlines budget pressures, remote-work limits and plans to rebalance CAB and leadership-academy funding
Summary
Washoe County’s recently appointed county manager briefed the North Valley Citizens Advisory Board on staffing and budget pressures, defended a Korn Ferry pay study used to adjust salaries, emphasized tighter remote-work controls and said leadership-academy funding would be dialed back to level resources across CABs.
The Washoe County manager told the North Valley Citizens Advisory Board that the county’s budget is currently "hold aligned" but faces a structural deficit if expenses continue to outpace revenue. The manager said the county ended the last fiscal year roughly $3,000,000 positive but warned rising personnel costs and slower property-tax growth mean the county must find efficiencies.
The manager described a Korn Ferry compensation study used to "rightsize" salaries so the county can retain staff without becoming the highest-paid employer in the region. "We were losing good people to other organizations that might not have had such a good culture, but they certainly have a paycheck," the manager said, explaining the study shaped recent pay adjustments.
On remote work, the manager said Washoe County no longer allows fully remote jobs and permits hybrid arrangements with strict accountability, network protections and monitoring. "We don't have any fully, fully, fully remote jobs," they said, adding remote arrangements include technical safeguards such as county-network access and firewalls.
Responding to CAB concerns that Leadership Academy funding appeared lopsided, the manager said the program’s funding would be leveled and that CAB funding and resources would be made more equitable. "The Leadership Academy funding is going to be dialed back. The CAB funding and the resources that we put towards that are going to be leveled out," the manager said, acknowledging attendees’ concerns about representation.
The manager also highlighted cybersecurity as a top priority following a recent state incident, saying stronger data governance is needed to avoid service disruptions that could halt courts or other operations.
The manager’s remarks closed with an open invitation for questions from CAB members and a commitment to continue engagement with community advisory boards.
