Plumas Supervisors Hold Hearings on Budget and Personnel

QUINCY — In preparation for the adoption of a budget for the upcoming fiscal year, the Plumas County Board of Supervisors has held a series of public hearings on various aspects of the county budget. In a continuation of those hearings, during the Board’s September 15 meeting, District Attorney David Hollister presented the functions and budget of his department.

A second hearing responded to requirements of a state law, which came into force in January 2025, that counties must report on job vacancies and recruitment and retention efforts.

Assistant County Counsel Sara James reported on behalf of the Human Resources Department that approximately 74 of the county’s 417 positions are currently vacant—an overall vacancy rate of 17.7%. The highest vacancy rates were in the county’s largest bargaining units, the so-called general and mid-management units, with 25.4% and 20.4%, respectively, in those units. James drew attention to four high-priority positions with particularly high vacancy rates: Behavioral Health Therapists, with 7 of 9 positions vacant; Behavioral Health Case Managers, with 9 of 12 positions vacant; Public Health Nurses, with 3.25 of 6.05 positions vacant; and Licensed Social Workers, with 2 vacancies among 9 positions. All of those positions have specialized requirements for education, professional licensure, or both.

The challenges to the county’s recruitment and retention efforts—low wages, health insurance rates, the cost of living, housing availability, burnout, and leadership transitions in some departments—remain largely the same as last year, James said. Board Chair Mimi Hall pointed out that all four of the priority positions with the highest vacancy rates are in the Public Health, Social Services and Behavioral Health Departments, which provide mandated services and are supported by external funds, rather than the county’s general fund. “We have the money [to support those positions], but we just haven’t changed our pay structure,” she said. She recommended the county and the Operating Engineers Union, Local 3, which represents most county workers, to think creatively about how to prioritize filling such specialized positions. Union representatives James Morales and Carl Carr expressed support for the county’s recruitment and retention efforts and said the union wants to be “part of the solution.”

Public hearings on the county budget continued after the Supervisors’ regular meeting on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning. The Board is scheduled to take up adoption of the final budget at a special meeting September 29 at 10:00 AM. The full county budget book is available online.