 Don Ashton, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of El Dorado County returned to our club to update us on the major issues facing the county and our response to those issues. Among the challenges is the $388 million in unfunded pension liability according to CalPERS. CalPERS recently experienced a 6.5% rate of return compared to the 7% they had planned on. Recently the governor said that CalPERS can no longer invest in firms that produce petroleum products, which should make it even more challenging for CalPERS to achieve their goals. Property taxes grew by 4.25% compared to the plan which assumed 5% growth. This may indicate a slowing housing market. Don thinks that it is too early for the effect of the fire insurance crisis for many homeowners to be reflected in this growth rate. Last year revenues obtained from the TOT (Transient Occupancy Tax) were larger than expected, making up for some of this property tax shortfall vs. plan. On the positive side, the County closed the fiscal year with a surplus and put that money in reserves. Currently, the size of the reserves fund is equal to 13-14% of the annual budget . Enhancements to the infrastructure of county buildings includes fixing aging buildings at a cost of $4-5M, and the $60M new Sheriff's Office building has opened recently. Regarding a potential new Costco store in El Dorado Hills, the CAO said that Costco is still in talks with County planning people. Don said that such a store would be a substantial contributor to the EDC sales tax base. There are approximately 600 homeless people in the county, and we have received $2M from the state to do something to help the homeless. Talks are underway, but there is no consensus on what to do with the money. The governor of CA is putting pressure on the cities to meet affordable housing standards. For example the state has sued Huntington Beach for failing to build its share. In summary, EDC faces challenges as a rural county that has a large number of people opposed to growth. Soon the county will be faced with the hard choice of taxing ourselves higher or cutting services. |
