Executive Director's Column Spring 2004

Budget Strains

By Dick Bobertz, Executive Director
San Dieguito River Park Joint Powers Authority

This is the kind of budget year that demonstrates why it is essential to establish an endowment to insure that the River Park endures for future generations. The stock market performance and State budget shortfalls of the last several years have placed local government organizations under financial pressure to meet current responsibilities, much less expand services for a growing population. That pressure has now reached the River Park, since we are an adjunct of the five Cities and the County that provide our annual operating budget.

Under the terms of the Joint Powers Agreement that established the JPA in 1989, and as a result of various other agreements, the County performs all accounting/payroll services for the River Park, which includes compilation of payroll overhead costs. Since 1989 the percentage rate paid in overhead on employee salaries has averaged 28%. But, that rate had to be increased substantially last year in order to compensate for investment losses in the retirement fund. The net result increased the salary overhead on our eight staff positions by more than $90,000.

Applying drastic budget pruning adjustments (including suspending merit pay increases for a staff that works harder and more effectively than any I have ever seen) allowed us to present a budget with no net increase for the second year running … except for the increased overhead cost of $90,000. It is simply not practical to expect the member agencies to increase their contributions to cover that cost when their own budget strains are causing layoffs and reductions of programs in their agencies. Another way had to be found to preserve the River Park as an organization.

In April the River Park JPA Board considered two available options to make up the $90,000 shortfall. They could either reduce staff by 20% or divert the annual endowment contribution of approximately $90,000 that they had been making over the last four years to the operating budget. They chose to preserve the staff and suspend the endowment contribution until fiscal circumstances improve.

Although I am relieved that the JPA staff will not be reduced this year, I am concerned that we may lose ground in establishing the endowment base needed to maintain the River Park during the inevitable financial down cycles that will confront us in the future.

For that reason the River Park will attempt to raise private funding this year to maintain our endowment-building program rate of approximately $100,000 per year. If you have not been contacted to contribute to the San Dieguito River Park Endowment Fund by the time you read this column, it will only be because we have somehow missed you. Please call to help us ensure the future of the River Park.

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