BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — SEIU — the labor union representing county workers in negotiations with the county — released a revised white paper analyzing the county's comprehensive annual financial reports.
- In the white paper the union makes several remarks disparaging the county's use of funds.
- Executive director of the Kern County Tax Payers Association Michael Turnipseed shares insight into the county's budget difficulties
SEIU — the labor union representing county workers in negotiations with the county — released a revised white paper analyzing the county's comprehensive annual financial reports.
In the white paper the union makes several remarks disparaging the county's use of funds. However, one local expert paints a more complicated picture.
Days after Kern County leaders were asked Tuesday to draft plans to cut around 3 percent of the budget, SEIU released a revised white letter, claiming expenditures for county services have fallen short of their budgeted amounts.
According to the white paper, the union argues that nearly 500 million in state and federal funding that the county received has either gone unused or unspent.
"Kern County is going through a major transformation, and it started 10 years ago," said Michael Turnipseed — the executive director of the Kern County Tax Payers Association. "The decline of the oil industry, the fact that the State gave the solar industry exemption so they don't pay property tax. That alone is $30 million a year."
As he read the white paper, he shared some insight into the county's budget difficulties, and he believed the union is calling out the wrong authority.
"I think SEIU would be very happy in the county if the state would just allow them [to tax solar], like they tax every other business, like they tax everything else."
The white paper argues that the unspent revenue in county service budgets has resulted in the combination of widespread short-staffing and high turnover, diminishing productivity in departments from public works to behavioral health and human services.
While Turnipseed didn't say whether or not the county could reallocate those unused funds to payroll, he advised strongly against it.
"You don't take one-time money and spend it on ongoing expenses," he said. "Unless you want to ultimately end the county in bankruptcy."
In a statement along with their white paper — SEIU Local 521 chapter president Alicia Aleman stated:
"It doesn't matter what fiscal year you look at — the result is the same. Kern County regularly refuses to spend the funding it receives. As a result, the County can't attract and retain the skilled workers needed to tackle our biggest issues."
The county said they've yet to receive the SEIU's latest white paper but emphasize that any funds the county receives are used responsibly to provide services for residents.
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