California County News

Data Dump: Census Bureau Stats Count Up Number of Government Employees in CA

According to new data from the Census Bureau, local government agencies lost nearly 48,000 part-time workers during a one-year period from 2009 to 2010. In comparison, state government added 2,836 part-timers. The data is part of the Bureau's annual census of government employment, which was compiled back in March 2010. When taken as a whole, state and local governments employ a total of 2.16 million employees and of those workers, 1.79 million are "full-time equivalent." All of these government employees are paid about $10 billion a month and are a huge factor in California’s $2 trillion per year economy. The Bee points out:

“Higher education, with the full-time equivalent of 158,064 workers, was by far the state government's largest category of employment, followed by the prison system's 61,710. Education, with the full-time equivalent of 722,847 workers, accounted for more than half of local government employment, followed by law enforcement with 90,263, public hospitals with 66,260, and welfare with 64,879.”

You can find the list of data for local government here.

Guv Declares September CA Wine Month; Special Events in Counties All Across the St.

Get ready to break open a bottle because the governor has declared September as California Wine Month. Events will be ongoing across the state to mark the contributions that wineries, grape growers and vintners from many counties bring to the Golden State. In his proclamation, the governor stated that “As an industry, California wine brings innumerable benefits to the state. Our scenic and historic wine-growing regions, a renowned cuisine based on food and wine pairings, and the opportunity to taste and purchase our world-famous wines bring an estimated 20.7 million tourists to our state each year. Our state's wineries create jobs for 330,000 Californians and revenue from retail sales of $18.4 billion, including $1.14 billion in exports sales to 122 countries." You can read the governor’s full proclamation here.

There are more than 4,600 grape growers and 3,400 bonded wineries in California. You can find 10 reasons to love California wines here.

You can find a list of events in counties all across the state here. There will be special tastings and harvest tours, to wine education classes and wine and food festivals to mark the occasion.

Adding Up: Ramp Constructed in the SF Supervisors’ Chambers Costs Nearly $700,000

At a cost of $699,413, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will certainly have one expensive ramp. Back in February, the board voted to construct a 10-foot wheelchair ramp in the Board of Supervisors' chambers and the tab is really adding up. Supervisor John Avalos was the only official to vote against its construction, arguing that it was not the best use of funds. Avalos commented that “This is a tremendous amount of money being spent on something in City Hall that rarely or may never even get used. Meanwhile, there are so many other needs for handicapped access that are really needed that are going unfunded.” The ramp was originally slated to cost $1.1 million. Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross tally up the costs:

“Costs include $25,200 for materials, $201,678 for labor and $49,000 for a set of historically accurate brass handrails. Outside historic experts to keep an eye on the work are getting $48,824. Miscellaneous costs bring the construction job's total to $477,000 and change. Also, because the job could take 10 weeks, the supervisors have set aside $51,042 to pay for relocating board meetings.”

They point out that at $699,413, the ramp is $50,000 more than the median cost of a home in the Sunset District.

Sonoma County’s Pension System Ordered to Release Pension Data by Appellate Court

Sonoma County’s retirement system is the latest to be ordered to release pension data after previously denying a public records request. The First District Court of Appeal ruled in favor of the newspaper the Press Democrat by upholding a lower court’s ruling. Much like rulings that affected Sacramento and San Diego counties, the court stated that “The records of expenditures of public funds must be open to public inspection.” Therefore, the Sonoma County Employees' Retirement Association will now have to disclose the names and pension benefits of all 8,000 members. The final ruling on the matter was issued on Friday and the retirement system initially appealed the lower court’s ruling back in November of 2010. The Press Democrat reports:

“The decision follows at least four recent lower court rulings in California that determined pension records are public information. A state appellate court in Sacramento came to the same conclusion in a similar case involving Sacramento County's pension fund and The Sacramento Bee's push for access to its records. Advocates of open government and pension overhaul have increasingly sought access to retirement records as pension costs have risen and six-figure yearly payments for top officials have drawn greater scrutiny.”

It is not yet clear when the retirement board will release the data now that the ruling has been issued. The Retirement Association did get a partial court victory, however, as the judge did indicate that the group did not have to release the retirement age of county employees receiving pension benefits.

Survey Shows More County Officials Believe the Nation is on the Wrong Track

The National Association of Counties has conducted its eighth annual National Survey of County Elected Officials and the results show that a greater number of officials believe the county is headed on the "wrong track.” In 2010, 59 percent of respondents said they felt the county was going down the wrong direction, and now the percentage is up to 62% for 2011. Party affiliation was unsurprisingly a strong factor in shaping how respondents viewed the direction of the country, with only 8 percent of Republicans saying the country was on the right path. Also, 86 percent of Republicans and 53 percent of Independents said that the country is on the wrong track, while less than 30 percent of Democrats feel the same way. Highly partisan politics were also picked out as a major detriment to American democracy. Here are some key findings from the survey of county officials:

• “Although a plurality of county elected officials (48 percent) still rate the national economy as poor, they are slightly more optimistic than those surveyed in 2010. Whether this trend will hold remains yet to be seen.
• Given the focused concern with the economy, the general mood of county elected officials is negative, but the trend is now heading in the right direction.
• County elected officials are very concerned about the rising level of federal spending and the resulting federal debt; however, at the same time, a majority is concerned about cuts in federal block grants.
• The officials who are elected to run America’s counties are generally opposed to allowing public sector workers to engage in collective bargaining, and while they tend to believe that public sector employees throughout the nation are paid fairly, they are more likely to say that national and state employees are overpaid, than to say that county employees are overpaid. In fact, nearly a third of those surveyed said that public sector employees in their county are underpaid.

Read the full study here.

OC Supervisor Argues County Could be a Candidate for Bankruptcy Once Again

Could Orange County be headed for bankruptcy once again? Second District Supervisor John Moorlach recently wrote an op-ed for the OC Register and argues that he believes the local government is in fact a candidate for bankruptcy and points to net investment in capital assets as a factor. Moorlach was Orange County’s Treasurer-Tax Collector for around 12 years before becoming a supervisor. 

An excerpt from the supervisor’s article can be read here:

“The County's voters approved Measure J, requiring voter approval before any future negotiated retirement benefit can become effective. The county even negotiated a voluntary opportunity for current employees to opt down to the lower pension formula offered to new hires and offers a defined-contribution plan as an incentive. Unfortunately, the Internal Revenue Service is obstructing this option.

What more can be done? The county could withhold more from its employees to pay a larger percentage of the annual cost. This will assist cash flow, but doesn't do anything to the liability. The county could sell assets, but it doesn't have enough of them. The county could negotiate a return to the old retirement formulas, but this has not been tested anywhere. The city of Vallejo filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, but did not allow the judge to rewrite bargaining unit agreements.

More cuts and benefit modifications can be pursued. Outsourcing should be expanded. The county's public employee unions should negotiate to reduce pension benefit formulas for current employees, which is the best alternative. Otherwise, I don't see any pay raises in the near future for county workers. If the county experiences an unforeseen financial calamity, then a bankruptcy judge may just have to approve a reorganization plan, again. This course of action is very expensive, but at least we're familiar with it.”

Read the full op-ed here.

County Uses Armed Nuisance Abatement Teams to Target Property Owners for Code Violations

Reason TV has filed a report on an unsettling situation in the rugged area of Antelope Valley in Los Angeles County, as the government seems to be infringing on the property rights of the individuals who live in this isolated region. Task forces called Nuisance Abatement Teams (NATs) have been used to target residents through armed raids. Many people have had their homes searched without a warrant and have been told they can no longer stay on their own property due to local code violations. Critics believe there are ulterior motives for the forceful treatment of the residents, such as clearing the way for an airport or highway. The LA Department of Regional Planning for the Antelope Valley, as well as other county officials, all turned down requests for an interview by Reason.

A press spokesman for Supervisor Michael Antonovich said off camera that code violations and complaints from neighbors in the area are the reasons armed Nuisance Abatement Teams have been used; the spokesperson also stated that speculation about development is a conspiracy theory. However, the fact that there are no neighbors even remotely near many of the property owners who have been targeted casts doubt on the veracity of such claims. Reason points out the following:

“LA Weekly reporter Mars Melnicoff wrote an in-depth article in which she exposed the county's tactic of badgering residents with minor, but costly, code violations until they face little choice but to vacate the land altogether. ‘They're picking on the the people who are the most defenseless and have the least resources,’ says Melnicoff.”

You can watch Reason’s report on the issue here:

SBDO Set to Launch Video Conferencing for Remote Residents to Participate in Meetings

A year-long pilot program is set to launch in San Bernardino County that would allow residents who live a great distance from the county’s Board of Supervisors meetings to participate through a video conferencing system. The system has been set up in the city of Victorville so that residents don’t have to schlep 40 miles to the county’s government center. County officials have already tested out the system and the county hopes that it will provide greater access to public officials. The program was slated to start a year ago, but a delay set the launch off course. It is believed that the conferencing system will be all ready for the board’s next meeting, which will occur on Sept. 13. The Daily Press points out that “It will enable High Desert residents to deliver live public comments […] and there will be staff members from the board clerk’s office and information services departments in Victorville to monitor the service, according to David Zook, chief of staff for 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt.”

San Luis Obispo County Adopts Two-Tier Pension Plan for Deputy Sheriffs Association

San Luis Obispo County is expected to save at least $2 million a year now that officials have implemented a new two-tier pension plan for the Deputy Sheriffs' Association that will apply to all new hires who are employed after September 4th. According to KSBY, 87% of the county's workforce now have a second tier retirement plan for all new hires. Under the new second tier, workers will have a 2.7 percent retirement formula at age 55.

In response to the change, Undersheriff Martin Basti commented that “We're very proud of our employees that during these negotiations they saw the need for a change, and they have accepted the change on the contract which was approved this morning by the board.” A report by KSBY can be seen here.

Pension Proposals: GASB Introduces Significant Changes for Financial Reporting by Govts

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board recently produced a proposal for significant improvements to its standards of accounting and financial reporting for the pension benefits that state and local governments provide to their employees. According to GASB, the objective of such changes is to improve accountability and the transparency of financial reporting, as well as the usefulness of the information it provides users of external financial reports of governmental employers and pensions plans. The existing standards have reportedly been in place since 1994. GASB posits that there is an increasing need among the users of governmental financial reports for comparable information about pensions and that concepts regarding what constitutes a liability and an outflow of resources need continual development. Under the proposal, local governments will have to modify how they report pension costs, obligations, and unfunded liabilities. The changes are found in the Plain Language Supplement to the Exposure Draft, which can be read here. Some excerpts include:

• A government would report in its financial statements a net pension liability equal to the difference between the total pension liability and the value of assets set aside in a pension plan to pay benefits to current employees, retirees, and their beneficiaries.
• Future salary increases and future periods of employment with the government would continue to be incorporated into projections of benefit payments.
• Changes of assumptions, as they relate to the liability for active employees, would be deferred and systematically incorporated into pension expense over a weighted average of the remaining service periods of employees.
• Differences between projected earnings on pension plan investments and actual earnings would be deferred and incorporated into the expense calculation over five years.

 

GASB is looking for public feedback from organizations that will be impacted by the proposals. You can find information about submitting written comments here.

In addition, a webinar will be held on September 7th on the proposed changes, giving listeners the chance to understand the key proposed guidance contained in the documents, how the documents would change accounting and financial reporting for pensions, and other issues of importance to the preparers, auditors, and users of governmental financial reports. Find information here.