Citing difficult financial times, county staff is advising the Board of Supervisors to lay off four full-time employees from the Department of Public Works Aviation Division, including Program Coordinator Emily Jacobs. Jacobs has been active in the county’s effort to recruit new air service and has helped manage the airport during the long, unexplained absences of embattled Airports Manager Jacquelyn Hulsey, who remains employed by the county.
Staff is also recommending that the board extend a program that allows department heads to authorize voluntary unpaid furloughs for county employees.
The county is looking at a $2.9 million loss to its general fund for fiscal year 2013-14, according to the third quarter budget review issued earlier today. There appears to be a perfect storm of financial woes hitting simultaneously. Among the many factors are rate hikes from the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the elimination of state redevelopment agencies, the expense of hiring outside legal counsel and the nation’s slow economic recovery.
The estimated balance of the general fund at the end of this fiscal year is just over $4.6 million, according to the budget review. Next fiscal year’s expenditures are projected to exceed $107 million while revenue is expected to be just over $104 million. That would leave only $1.6 million in the general fund for fiscal year 2014-15. “This is very concerning,” Chief Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes states in the budget review.
The layoffs to the Aviation Division will save the county just $88,990, or roughly 3 percent of the projected shortfall. Nearly $200,000 in funding could come from the state thanks to Assembly Bill 109, also known as public safety realignment. More savings could be achieved through various “budget adjustments” recommended in the review, but not nearly enough to cover the projected imbalance.
Reserves are also dwindling. Between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2011 the county spent $2.75 million from its general reserve fund. That kitty is now down to just $750,000. “The County’s General Reserve should be 26 to 33 times higher than the present level,” the budget review states.
This article appears in Still Having Fun.
What does Husley make… here is an idea, keep the person doing the work, fire the employee that created all the past issues, the death, the mismanagment, the delays…wow.
What I love it is that the the proposal is to layoff the person who does her job well, when the one who created this mess keeps hers. The County should be ashamed of themselves. It’s a sad day when public employment is not at all based on performance. Someone should scratch the surface on this one. It’s smells very rotten.
Seriously, she can NOT WORK and still get paid?!?! OK, Humboldt, remember me, Sheila Jenkins, the daughter of one of the passengers killed in the airplane crash in 2009. WHO EXACTLY is protecting JACQUELYN HULSEYs job? Time to investigate, ENOUGH is ENOUGH!!!!
Anyone with information can email anonymously to TLC_SHY@YAHOO.COM
hmmm…financial dificulties…sounds like a good time to invest in infrastructure! Like freeways and baseball fields and all things “development’! NOT!
Get rid of the more efficient employee + two more?
Hmm, HOJ counts 5 supervisors being ALL OVERPAID. To save $84,000.00 (give or take), each supervisor would have to “give-up” how much of their salary? Ah, that is right, they are at the top of the food chain. Hmmm, of the 3 people being laid-off, did they vote in favor of any of the current supervisors or past supervisors? Did these 3 people ever consider their local government as backstabbers? Probably not because government employment is eye candy that sells. – HOJ
Anyone know how to change a password since the one issued is not what was personally selected by the commenter, but by a computer system. – HOJ
Nice kick-axe feature to amend comment for any foo foo errors. – HOJ
Very sad if her job is being protected by the union. What a waste! Meanwhile someone working hard and doing good – Emily – gets the shaft. I heard her on the radio KHSU – what a whiz!
Forgot to add what a good report from Ryan. Nice score, Journal.
How about the board of sups agreeing to forego their salaries for the length of the furloughs? How does the expenditure of public funds on the E-W rail line look now?
…And now I refer everyone to the NCJ’s article from last Oct about all the county employees that are paid to stay home:
http://issuu.com/ncjournal/docs/ncj102512?mode=window&backgroundColor=%23222222
The increase in payments to CalPers comes as no surprise to me. On a slightly different note, I’ve been wondering for some time how much of the general fund is being used to pay for employee pension and medical benefits? Cities and counties across the state are having an increasing portion of their budgets taken up by employee benefit obligations- some to the point where normal government services are being cut. Is Humboldt County one of them?
Increased contributions to CalPers have just been mandated a short time ago. The normal benefit obligation payments have been an issue for much longer. Where do we stand with those?
What a shame to even think about letting Emily go. She’s the one that gets things done and has the brains. The public should show up in mass and demand this doesn’t happen. Jackie needs to go and should have been terminated a long time ago. Maybe next time the board of Sups will hire a real airport manger and not a puppet. The public has the right to demand better.
So the girl who works her tail off to get things done is getting laid off while the lady who cost the county more money due to incompetence than the layoffs may save keeps her job? No wonder Humboldt County is so screwed up. With Emily’s experience and resume, she will be able to get a far better job outside of the county where she will be appreciated.