'This Downward Spiral' 

Editor:

In my Aug. 31 NCJ column ("Pension Debt is Devouring Local Services"), we looked at the big picture regarding pension debt.

Now, let us look at this issue regarding a much more defined issue, the issue of funding $477,000 annually for the Arcata House Partnership safe parking program ("No Safe Parking," June 6).

Transparentcalifornia.com lists pay, benefits and pension debt amounts for each public employee. With pension debt now listed as a separate line item, we can see the cost of this expense very clearly.

I went through top local government officials' compensation and looked at the pension debt amount listed for the latest year data available, 2022. How many officials did it take to reach $477,000? Surprisingly, only seven. Here are the pension debt payments needed to reach $477,000: (1) $133,759; (2) $73,745; (3) $70,659; (4) $59,807; (5) $56,895; (6) $56,370; (7) $51,870. The total is $503,105 for just these seven employees.

Humboldt County Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo was correct in her op-ed for the Times-Standard (Jan. 20) that this is a downward spiral. Loss of funding for the Arcata House Partnership safe parking program is an example of this downward spiral.

Other examples of this downward spiral? Eureka's budget has a $1.1-million deficit just a few years after its huge sales tax increase took effect in 2021. Humboldt County has a $12.4 million budget deficit and its general fund is on track to run out of money in less than two years. Humboldt Bay Fire has a staffing shortage with one station closed. Arcata, Fortuna and Humboldt County are all looking at tax or fee increases to be placed onto a debilitated private sector. All backed up by the State of California's $45 billion budget deficit. Stay tuned. We'll all see where we are a year from now.

Patrick Cloney, Eureka