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During its second budget-related discussion this week, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a preliminary $606.7 million spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year. The board will convene a public hearing next week to go over proposed changes to the draft budget for the 2024-25 fiscal year. The budget is slated for final approval on June 25.

In the weeks leading up to these end-of-the-year budget talks, staff has painted an increasingly “grim” picture of the county’s budget outlook. If the county can’t drastically reduce its spending, the General Fund will run out of money by the end of the 2025-26 fiscal year, which is just over two years away. 

The budget for the current 2024-25 fiscal year was on track to end up more than $18 million in the hole, eating up a significant portion of the county’s General Fund reserves. However, the board earlier this year decided to use $4.7 million in unspent Measure Z funding from prior years will be used to cover a portion of that deficit, meaning the county is on track to lose $13.86 million by June 30, the end of the current fiscal year.

The board has taken several actions over the past year to reduce spending, including voluntary furloughs, separation incentives and a hiring freeze for some county departments. Deputy County Administrative Officer Jessica Maciel said the cost-saving measures have resulted in a four percent reduction in full-time staff.

“The total personnel for the coming year is 2,344.73 full-time equivalent,” Maciel said during Tuesday’s meeting. “This is a decrease of 98.54 positions or four percent. … Your board directed staff to deallocate unfunded positions, and that accounts for a large portion of this decrease. The primary decreases were in the Sheriff’s Office, Planning and Building, Public Works and DHHS [the Department of Health and Human Services].”

The board has also looked to departmental reorganization as a means to reduce county spending. During a special meeting on Monday, the board reviewed several strategies to centralize services, to allow for more collaboration among departments and to improve succession planning. The board also considered the possibility of implementing mandatory employee furloughs, which was widely opposed by department heads. After four hours of discussion, the board ultimately agreed to move toward centralizing services and close county offices on Fridays to give employees more time to focus on their workloads.

Still, staff recommended that the board continue the hiring freeze for “departments that receive ongoing personnel cost requests” in the 2024-25 fiscal year, including the Auditor-Controller, Human Resources, Public Works Land Use, Public Works County Surveyor, Sheriff Operations and Public Defender Conflict Counsel.

Speaking on behalf of the Sheriff’s Office at Tuesday’s meeting, Regina Fuller, deputy director of financial services, asked the board to exempt the department, or “at least our deputy sheriffs and our dispatchers,” from the hiring freeze. 

Fuller | Screenshot

“If you intend for us to reduce dispatch or patrol services in the next fiscal year, then yes, [approve the] hiring freeze, but if you don’t, we would appreciate an exemption,” Fuller said.

Since the beginning of this year, the Board of Supervisors has granted the Sheriff’s Office two exceptions to the countywide hiring freeze. In January, Humboldt Sheriff William Honsal asked for an exemption to recruit up to 25 new hires to counter turnover within the department. A few months later in March, Honsal asked for another exemption to hire three full-time administrative employees.

Fuller emphasized that the Sheriff’s Office isn’t asking for more full-time employees, “we’re just asking to fill the [positions] we have,” she said. 

“So what we’re asking [for] is, if the [positions are] funded for the fiscal year, that we be allowed to hire for them as needed,” Fuller explained. “We can’t predict our turnover but, you know, our turnover is pretty high. When the sheriff [asked] your board for an exception this fiscal year, you gave us one … but because of turnover, we had to come back to your board today, in fact, and request for more. … We may still come back to your board because we’ve lost 25 people even though we’ve hired 25 people.”

First District Supervisor and Board Chair Rex Bohn spoke in favor of the exemption, noting that it’s “not an added value” to the county. “If they’re budgeted, they’re not asking for any more money, and they’ve got to stop hiring when they run out of money,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with them meeting what they’ve lost.”

Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell felt similarly and expressed interest in discussing the matter further. County Administrative Officer Elishia Hayes said the board would have an opportunity to suggest changes to the proposed budget during next week’s public hearing.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson noted that there are likely other departments with similar exemption requests and asked the CAO’s Office to send out a memo seeking additional information before the upcoming budget hearing. 

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo agreed, noting that the hiring freeze “there are barriers to hiring for law enforcement, and I know that it’s a lengthy process but the same is true for other departments.”

Wilson made a motion to approve the proposed budget allocations, which was seconded by Arroyo. After a bit of discussion, the item was passed in a unanimous 5-0 vote.

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Other notable bits from Tuesday’s meeting:

• The board approved a $2 million loan from the Headwaters Fund to help support predevelopment financing for Life Plan Humboldt’s mixed-income retirement project in McKinleyville. The development, slated for a 14.58-acre property south of Hiller Road, will include 168 senior residential units, various on-site amenities and a subdivision with approximately 60 affordable housing units. At its May 20 meeting, the Headwaters Fund board approved the loan request and an extension to its current lender agreement with the Redwood Region Economic Development Commission (RREDC) and the Arcata Economic Development Corporation (AEDC). The request was approved in a 4-0 vote, with Wilson recused.
• The board adjourned and reconvened as the governing board of the Humboldt County Flood Control District to authorize a $300,500 reimbursement to the City of Fortuna for maintenance associated with Rohner Creek and Strongs Creek. The item was unanimously approved.
• Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) President and CEO Patrick Blacklock presented an annual update on the organization’s Strategic Plan. Blacklock also talked about upcoming legislation that will affect rural residents, as well as RCRC’s ongoing work with the Golden State Finance Authority, National Homebuyers Fund, Golden State Connect Authority, Rural Alliance, Inc., Golden State Natural Resources, and Environmental Services Joint Powers Authority. 
• The board also approved a proclamation for Two Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex and Asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) Pride Month.