LAKEPORT, Calif. – After seven and a half hours of budget hearings on Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the county's final recommended 2014-15 budget.

The new budget's appropriations total approximately $184,767,583. That final number was adjusted by about $5 million since County Administrative Officer Matt Perry held a budget workshop with the board Aug. 12.

This year's budget total is down from $188 million last year, according to Perry.

“A lot of special projects account for the decrease in total appropriations,” Perry told the supervisors.

The 2014-15 budget also includes 965 full-time equivalent positions, up from 937 last year, Perry said. He attributed the increase to new positions added in the Probation and Social Services departments.

In addition to adopting the new budget, the board unanimously approved a resolution establishing position allocations for fiscal year 2014-15 to conform to the adopted budget and voted to continue the county's general hiring freeze, although Perry has the authority to waive that freeze as appropriate.

Perry said he prepared the budget keeping in mind board priorities, including Code Enforcement – where two new positions are to be added over the next two years with a one-time allocation. Those positions will help deal with enforcement issues that include illegal marijuana grows.

Other priorities include the jail expansion, water quality programs, senior centers and youth-related activities – such as the proposed Kelseyville skate and BMX park – capital projects, the south county Behavioral Health expansion and Lampson Field, as well as upgrades to water systems and roads, sidewalks and bridges.

Perry said another area of emphasis is staff development – and a resulting succession plan for department heads – which he said has been either overlooked or sacrificed during the recession.

Many of the county's top managers are baby boomers, and while Perry said many of them don't have immediate plans for retirement, that prospect is not far off in the future.

As such, he budgeted one-time general fund money for staff development, explaining to the board that he wanted to work with Marymount California University – which just opened its newest campus at the county-owned Lucerne Hotel – to develop staff training programs.

Perry said he also wants to continue to cultivate the relationship between the county and Marymount, as the four-year university's presence in Lake County offers local youth a great opportunity for education and also is a benefit to county employees.

In her last budget hearing, Board Chair Denise Rushing – who is leaving the board when her term expires at the end of this year – expressed gratitude to the board and county staff, who she said had worked as a team to manage in difficult times.

“This is one of the toughest budgets we've seen and we've said that since 2008,” she said.

Board looks at department challenges

Throughout the day, the board went over high points of each department budget with county administrative staff and the respective department heads.

Many of the departments continue to face challenges such as funding, hiring and retention.

For Animal Care and Control, Director Bill Davidson sought the board's direction on reduced hours of operation.

The agency is suggesting having a later opening of 11 a.m., which Davidson said isn't particularly late in the day when looking at other animal control agencies around the region.

The board approved a temporary, four-month reduction in hours – from October through January – with the supervisors to revisit the issue at the start of next year.

The Lake County Library also is facing reduced funding levels and challenges in having the needed funds to continue buying books and other materials, so its department head has to look at places to cut.

County Librarian Christopher Veach said he's looked at a variety of options, with the only thing left to cut being library operating hours.

Retiring Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker said his office has suffered due to the retirement of several of its experienced staff.

Wacker, assessing the county's economic recover, told the board that Lake was one of the last counties to go into the recession's economic downturn.

“We're still kind of digging our way out of it,” he said, noting that he is starting to see positive signs, like a decline in foreclosures, which in recent years had ballooned in Lake County as they had elsewhere.

“The thing I need now are experienced appraisers to get the job done,” Wacker said.

In the Community Development Department, it's proposed that a new Code Enforcement supervisor and a dedicated officer be added at a cost of $250,000 over two years.

Community Development Director Rick Coel said an updated nuisance abatement ordinance the county adopted in 2012 has streamlined the process, making it run more efficiently and reducing the time to get to nuisance abatement hearings, if they are needed.

“We really need a committed staff,” Coel said.

For Public Works, Director Scott De Leon said he's facing revenue levels that are trending down.

His road budget had $18 million in revenue in the 2012-13 budget year, rose to $22 million in 2013-14 and this year is down to $15.9 million. He said the changes are due to project-specific revenue.

Gas tax also is down, De Leon said.

Gas tax totaled $3.4 million in 2012-13, $3.7 million in 2013-14 and for the coming year has dropped to $3.2 million, he said.

Regarding tourism and marketing, in April the Board of Supervisors approved a staff proposal to close the county's Visitor Information Center in Lucerne. The center costs an estimated $175,000 to run each year.

Perry said the center is on track to close the first Monday in October, staying open through the Konocti Challenge.

The board's direction to staff in April had been to work on negotiating a contract with the Lake County Chamber of Commerce for taking over some of the Visitor Information Center's duties, including answering calls and emails, and providing services on the weekend.

Perry said he worked with chamber Chief Executive Officer Melissa Fulton on negotiating a contract. They came close but didn't finalize an agreement,” he said.

“I'm wondering if maybe there's other options out there,” said Perry.

Board members agreed with the idea of looking at other options, with that discussion to be planned for an upcoming meeting.

Fulton told the board that she believed the chamber was well suited to provide the marketing services to the county.

The chamber also will bring back a proposal, she said.

Fulton maintained that for the $53,000 that it was proposed that the chamber be paid for the Visitor Information Center duties, the county will get services identical to those it got when paying $175,000 annually to operate the center.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.