The Measure R Oversight Committee submitted its report to the Del Norte County Board of Supervisors at the Board’s June 28 meeting. Committee member David Jones presented the report to the Board summarizing the committee findings following several meetings that were conducted during the past fiscal year.The committee report asked and answered three fundamental questions:Question 1. Were all Measure R funds spent on “vital local services,” as described in the Ballot Question for Measure R?#placement_573654_0_i{width:100%;max-width:550px;margin:0 auto;}var rnd = window.rnd || Math.floor(Math.random()*10e6);var pid573654 = window.pid573654 || rnd;var plc573654 = window.plc573654 || 0;var abkw = window.abkw || '';var absrc = 'https://ads.empowerlocal.co/adserve/;ID=181918;size=0x0;setID=573654;type=js;sw='+screen.width+';sh='+screen.height+';spr='+window.devicePixelRatio+';kw='+abkw+';pid='+pid573654+';place='+(plc573654++)+';rnd='+rnd+';click=CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER';var _absrc = absrc.split("type=js"); absrc = _absrc[0] + 'type=js;referrer=' + encodeURIComponent(document.location.href) + _absrc[1];document.write('');Answer: Yes. Measure R funds have been spent in the following areas:Question 2. If any Measure R funds were not spent on “vital local services,” what were they spent on?Answer: The Measure R Committee did not identify any misspending or misuse of Measure R funds.Question 3. Was any Measure R funding used to supplant or displace another funding source in any department’s budget?Answer: We have not identified that any funds were supplanted or displaced to another funding source in any budget.Measure R funds are not added to the General Fund and are a separate fund. The Measure R Committee, as well as the public, has access to budget items in Del Norte County via the County Website.The Measure R Committee receives the most current financial statements listing funds available and what funds have been spent and where. The Measure R Committee has requested that random audits be completed on departments and/or funds spent and provided to the committee for review. Explanation of Measure R Expenditures by DepartmentThe Oversight Committee monitored the Measure R revenue that has been generated up to this point. The Oversight Committee also monitored the expenditures to by the various county departments that have received Measure R funds. Those departments submitted reports in response to a formal request by the Oversight Committee.Sheriff’s Department:• Salary Increases for Sheriff’s Deputies to narrow the salary discrepancies with other agencies to reduce out migration of trained department staff.• Addition of Dispatch position. This will provide adequate staffing and coverage so staff may utilize their vacation days, etc.• Addition of a Records Clerk. Prior to addition there was only one Records Clerk reducing the timeliness of service due to workload.• Salary Increases for Jail staff to narrow salary discrepancies with other agencies to reduce out migration of trained jail staff.Probation Department:• Salary increase for staff to reduce pay disparities with similar sized counties. Currently the probation department has a 37 percent vacancy rate.Veterans Service• The state of California mandates counties provide Veterans Services. The Veteran’s Services office was provided $6,500 to replace second hand furniture in the Fireside room.District Attorney• Salary increase for District Attorney Investigators to decrease the pay disparity which is some of the lowest in the State of California.Community Development Department• Code Enforcement: Addition of a Code Enforcement Officer Position. Position was filled on December 4, 2021. Code enforcement receives approximately 385 new complaints per year. Average caseload for adequate response is 150 new cases per year.• Planning Division: The planning division has been down one full time position since 2010. Prior to filling second position the workload was prioritized to address current planning, and delays were inevitable due to staffing resources.• A second planner position has been filled and they have been exposed to all job responsibilities, excluding the Emergency Operations Center. Timeframes for reviewing and processing of development applications, shorter periods of time for responses to requests for information, positioning to take advantage of grant opportunities have improved since the second planner was hired.Office of Emergency Services Department• Addition of one position. Prior to Measure R, there was only funding for one position which stretched resources to the breaking point during the COVID Pandemic.Department of Agriculture• Addition of Animal Control Supervisor and salary increase for current Animal Control Officer position to decrease pay disparity with similar counties, increase retention, and quality of applicants.Del Norte County is the only county in California to rely on the Agricultural Commissioner to provide direct supervision of Animal Control Services. The addition of an Animal Control Supervisor raised the staffing level to three.Measure R funds have also been used to replace garage doors on the main garage building, which prior to being replaced, were a safety hazard to employees and had prevented the use of vehicles due to (door) malfunction prior to replacement. The Supervisor position was filled and the supervisor has begun job duties in that position. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });