Supervisors spend less this year from discretionary funds

At the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year, Merced County supervisors handed out less money from their discretionary funds than the previous year, ending with a total of $271,584.95 in expenditures.

Though the supervisors spent less, they also ended up with less than the previous year. The end balance is $398,050.21, compared with last year’s $435,330.78.

Each supervisor is allocated $40,000 every fiscal year to use as they please. Usually, supervisors choose to spend the money on community projects or nonprofit organizations. The leftover amount at the end of each fiscal year rolls over to the next.

Organizations can request funds from the supervisors. That request is reviewed by county counsel and sometimes other county departments before it is placed on the agenda. The board must approve the request with a majority vote.

When Daron McDaniel took his post as District 3 supervisor in January, he cast the lone “no” vote against his peers’ discretionary expenditures. Discretionary funding was a campaign issue for McDaniel, who recently pushed for the supervisors to approve a form organizations would fill out when requesting discretionary moneys. The board didn’t vote to make the form mandatory, but supervisors could opt to use it as they please.

McDaniel wants transparency and accountability for the way discretionary money is managed. In his opinion, it would be better if the discretionary funds didn’t exist.

“I would definitely like to do away with them or set the money aside each year for a grant process,” he said.

But other supervisors view the money as a way to support organizations that wouldn’t be able to fund projects otherwise.

“I support it 100 percent, because there’s a lot of nonprofits out there that need some assistance,” said John Pedrozo, chairman of the board. “I’m a firm believer in that.”

Each supervisor uses the funds differently. For example, Pedrozo bought uniforms for students at Le Grand Union High School, stocked the food pantry at Bible Christian Church in Le Grand and paid for Internet services at McNamara Park Youth Center. District 2 Supervisor Hub Walsh paid for lighting equipment at Playhouse Merced and a new phone system for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Merced. Deidre Kelsey, District 4 supervisor, gave money to the Ballico American Legion Post 668 and the Delhi Church of the Cross “Love Delhi” project. Jerry O’Banion, District 5 supervisor, paid for a new sound system for the Spring Fair Heritage Foundation.

Pedrozo, Walsh and Kelsey each have money set aside for an assistant. Walsh does not currently employ an assistant, said Mike North, a spokesman for the county. Pedrozo said recently he has reduced his assistant’s salary – $23,266 for the 2014-15 fiscal year. Pedrozo’s assistant works part time and currently is on maternity leave, he said. Kelsey spent about $5,000 on an assistant, county records show.

McDaniel believes money from discretionary funds should go to projects or organizations that benefit the county as a whole, rather than specific areas in a supervisor’s district. Since he took his seat as supervisor, he used $4,000 for a retaining wall at the Castle Fire Station and $2,000 for graffiti abatement.

Before McDaniel replaced Linn Davis, Davis spent the most of all the supervisors on discretionary funds. Total expenditures for District 3 were $99,500.63. All but $4,000 was allocated by Davis. That includes $61,808.66 set aside for McSwain and Franklin/Beachwood capital projects, such as a community center. The money has not been spent yet, North said.

Pedrozo spent the least – $34,892.35 – but had $6,559.10 to roll over to the current fiscal year. Walsh had the most rollover money at $197,921.61, but said some of that was leftover from before he was elected.

This story was originally published July 31, 2015 at 4:07 PM with the headline "Supervisors spend less this year from discretionary funds."