At the June 14 Board of Supervisors meeting the Board discussed approving a $175,000 payment to bail out of the Tri-Agency Economic Development Authority (Tri-Agency). In 2011, Tri-Agency defaulted on a loan from the USDA and there is an outstanding debt of $288,891.Tri-Agency proposes to collect $290,000 over the next five years, $175,000 (62 percent) from the County, $90,000 (30 percent) from the City, and $25,000 (8 percent) from the Harbor District.At the Board meeting, Supervisors Starkey and Masten asked questions about the proposed allocation and current effectiveness of Tri-Agency. It is appropriate for supervisors to ask questions when it involves large sums of money. They should not simply rubber-stamp every request that comes before them.#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('');Supervisor Starkey opposed the County paying 62 percent while the City is only paying 30 percent. She made a good case that the City has sufficient revenue to pay an amount at least equal to the County. Supervisor Masten asked for examples of Tri-Agency successes to help justify this payment, but got no answers.Sometimes it takes a new perspective to step back and reevaluate whether something is still a good idea. This is what Supervisors Starkey and Masten bring to the table.The primary questions that must be answered are, 1) What is the fairest way for the City, County and Harbor to split payment on this overdue bill? And, 2) What is the best vehicle to drive future business development and job creation in our community? Today, I want to address this first question. Next week I will delve into a discussion of plans for future economic development.What is Tri-Agency and why should we care? The Tri-Agency Economic Development Authority was formed in 1975 through a joint powers agreement (JPA) to create a partnership between Crescent City, Del Norte County and the Crescent City Harbor District.According to the JPA, “It is the stated purpose of this agreement to provide a united, coordinated, orderly, positive and more effective means for implementing and carrying into execution an Economic Development Action Plan and Strategy for the general benefit of all the people of Del Norte County.”Over the 47-year history of Tri-Agency, there have been many successes. For example, it was Tri-Agency that built the original inner boat basin and brought high speed internet to our county.However, there are few examples of recent accomplishments because Tri-Agency has been embroiled for ten years, trying to untangle the financial knot caused by past decisions.Tri-Agency can’t access additional funding for economic development until this old debt is paid. This is why the City, County and Harbor need to agree on how to pay off this defaulted loan. The joint powers agreement provides some guidance for this.Each member agency gets an equal number of appointed board members and an equal number of votes. The City, County and Harbor are equal partners and have equal responsibility for the success or failure of the Tri-Agency. In my opinion, this is why they should all agree to pay equal shares of this debt.In 2020, Tri-Agency collected $115,000 from a defaulted business loan. This should be applied toward payment of their defaulted USDA loan. This would leave $173,891 balance due. Split three ways is $57,963 for the City, County and Harbor each to pay.However, if the Harbor District truly cannot afford to pay more than $25,000, then the City and County should both agree to split the remainder. This would amount to total payments of $74,446 for each. That is $15,555 less than the City was originally asked to pay and $100,554 less than the County was asked to pay.On Tuesday, June 21, the Harbor District adopted a resolution pledging $5,000 a year for five years to pay the amount that was requested by Tri-Agency, contingent on the City and County paying the balance.I strongly recommend that this USDA loan be paid off as soon as possible. Stretching out payments over five years as proposed, would keep the Tri-Agency in fiscal limbo. There are huge amounts of State and Federal funding available now for economic development. If we must wait five years to access this funding it may be too late.We need to put this debt behind us so we can have an economic development agency that spends less time on debt collection and more time on economic development. Kevin Hendrick is the Chair of the Del Norte County Democratic Central Committee - dndems@gmail.com googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('ad-1515727'); });