The following is a monthly letter written by Mendocino County’s 3rd District Supervisor John Haschak to constituents:
Around the County, Memorial Day was celebrated. I would like to thank all the veterans, American Legion posts, Veterans of Foreign Wars, and other groups who keep the memory alive of sacrifices made. My father was in the army. He was in Day 2 of the D-Day invasion. He only talked about it one time and that was the only time I saw him cry. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve in the Peace Corps. As we look forward to 4th of July celebrations, we honor those who serve our communities, county, and country thru public service, military service, or service making this world a better place.
The Board of Supervisors passed a balanced budget for fiscal year 2024-2025. Like last year, we had to use $7 million of one time only money. We will have to continue cutting costs wherever possible. We do have labor agreements with all the bargaining units. We cut about $8 million in creating efficiencies and reductions and we will have to continue cost cutting.
In projects that I worked on directly, these were some of the savings this year. We were able to save over $600,000 in a “golden handshake” incentive and $120,000 in deleting the Cultural Services Agency department head and replacing that position with a County Librarian position who oversees a branch library. The cannabis department lowered their county costs by about $500,000 and offering permit amnesty for Planning and Building Services brought in over 40 new buildings into the tax system. The museum is transitioning to a non-profit agency which will reduce County costs in the future.
The budget going forward will have two year projections. This will help in forecasting how decisions made will play out over a longer period of time. The Teeter Plan, which helps provide stable funding for schools and community service districts, is projected to bring in $1.5 million which is good news since it was a negative on the budget. County facilities have seen a 10% drop in electrical usage and 27% drop in gas utility usage. Cannabis taxes brought in $3.2 million when it was budgeted at $1 million.
Unfortunately, the Board approved a Master Tax Sharing Agreement without proper analyses done of how it would affect County services and finances. I was the lone dissenting vote. The tax sharing agreement allows cities to annex areas. This can be a fairly simple proposition in an area where there is just residential properties. However, when areas that are in the County have sales tax and Transient Occupancy Tax generating businesses, it becomes much more complicated and risky for the County. The County projects a loss of $3 million if, for example, the area north of Ukiah is annexed. This includes Raley’s, auto dealers, motels, and many other businesses (14 of the 25 highest sales tax generators in the County). Yet the County will still be responsible for coroner duties and other law enforcement activities, social services, mental and public health, and other services. This loss of income will affect the County’s budget unless there is a huge surge of economic development as the proponents claim.
There will be a Talk with the Supervisor Thursday, June 13 at 10:00 at Brickhouse Coffee in Willits. I am available by email haschakj@mendocinocounty.gov or phone 707-972-4214.
John
