Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Community Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Supervisors press county staff on Community Development admin pay and interfund accounting
Summary
At a Del Norte County budget workshop supervisors pressed staff about a $126,000 reduction in the Community Development administration salaries line and large differences between year‑to‑date intra‑fund transfers and proposed budget figures, prompting auditors to explain retirement‑related accounting changes.
The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors pressed Community Development staff on discrepancies in the department's administration budget during a special budget workshop. Supervisors questioned why the initial salaries and wages request of $413,000 had been cut to $287,000, and why intra‑fund transfer revenues showed only a small year‑to‑date balance while the proposed budget listed much larger amounts.
Auditor Shad told the board that the initial budget had conservatively costed out the retiring director's leave as a cash payout; staff adjusted the assumption after learning the director would roll leave into CalPERS instead of taking a full cashout. “We're gonna roll that into PERS, the PERS retirement system, so it doesn't cost us as much money,” the auditor said, explaining the accounting change reduced the near‑term cash obligation.
Supervisors also flagged interfund posting timing. County staff said several intra‑fund allocations and revenue postings have not yet been processed for the fiscal year, creating apparent gaps between year‑to‑date figures and the proposed budget. Staff promised offline reconciliation and small adjustments before the final adopted budget.
Board members repeatedly asked for clearer supporting statistics and reconciliations to explain large swings between initial and revised numbers. One supervisor said the board needs departmental measures to show “the bang for the buck” taxpayers receive, pressing staff to provide permit counts and other metrics for future budget packets.
The board did not take a formal action on the line during the workshop; staff indicated further corrections and explanations would be provided before final adoption.
