Board questions steep CDD administration salary swing tied to retirement payout

Del Norte County supervisors pressed Community Development Department staff during the special-session budget workshop after administration salaries dropped from $413,000 in the initial request to $287,000 in the proposed budget.

Supervisor Starkey asked for data-driven oversight, saying the board should be able to show “the bang for the buck that they're getting with their taxpayer dollars,” and pressed staff on a $126,000 reduction in requested salaries. Auditor Shad explained the change was driven by a planned retiree’s decision not to cash out sick leave: "We costed out at the max" initially, he said, and later the department decided to roll the entitlement into CalPERS so "it doesn't cost us the same amount of money." The auditor said treating the payout as a retirement contribution rather than a cash cashout reduced the budgeted one-time payout.

Supervisors also flagged large interfund and revenue timing differences. Finance staff said the CDD admin allocation for FY2526 has not been fully processed and that interfund postings are expected to net to zero once payroll and interfund revenue are finalized. Starkey asked for a methodological breakdown of how allocations flow between divisions and voiced concern about a $710,000 proposed interfund request that contrasted with year‑to‑date postings of roughly $2,641. Staff said the apparent gap is a timing and posting issue and promised to reconcile the numbers before the final budget.

The board asked departments to provide more statistics in future budget reviews — permits issued, inspections performed and other outputs — to link expenditures to measurable results. Staff accepted the request and noted several line‑item adjustments will be revisited as final payroll and interfund data become available.