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Air district staff wants to raise fees

May 22, 2012

Larry Allen

Staff at the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District is asking its board on Wednesday to approve a handful of fee increases in order to cover its growing budget needs, according to the agenda.

Staff is requesting increasing DMV fees, APCD permit fees, CEQA review costs, and APCD testing and verification costs. In addition, they are seeking a ballot measure to increase parcel fees in order to help fill a $273,000 budget gap the agency is facing.

District expenditures have grown from $2,438,146 during the 2001-2002 fiscal year to a budget of $4,156,766 for the current fiscal year.

Some 75 percent of the agency’s expenditures are for employee costs, according to the district’s expenditure report.

Of the district’s 21 full-time employees, in salaries benefits and “fringes,” 19 run over $100,000 a year.

Top earner, Executive Director Larry Allen, costs $240,119 a year, according, to the district’s fiscal year 2011/2012 salary projections.

This does not include a board voted increase to Allen’s salary of 5 percent slated for December or his $5,400 a year car allowances

The air quality board is comprised of all five county supervisors and a council person from each of the county’s seven cities.


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California’s unemployment rate is at approximately 11%. People keep losing their jobs, health care and homes. BUT, government employees continue to demand more from taxpayers. Government employees’ salaries and benefits continue to rise, and we the taxpayer HAVE to pay.


When are the politicians going to stop this?


Do these government employees have no consideration for anyone but themselves?


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i assume the APCD deals with the Morro Bay Power Plant. If so, They should be able to cut manpower that involves that entity.


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KPRL 1230 AM at 1 p.m. today


I will be on to discuss how Larry Allen’s $1/4-mil salary was illegally approved in secret closed session.


– 17% raise

– 51 paid days off

– $5,400 car allowance


The APCD Board meets at 9 a.m. tomorrow in the Supervisor chambers and will consider next year’s proposed budget, a possible property tax, fee increases, and other revenue increases.


Call or email me if you can attend or want email addresses to write the board.


Kevin at slorider dot com

(805) 602-2616


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I like clean air, it is delicious. At one time it was free but now there is no free lunch. If you go to the beach you can eat all you want for the price of a bus ticket. To bad that life has become a beach.


Remember you can get rich at Lotto, Gaming or the Stock Market. With that valuable insite, be the first to buy a beach, no problema and just pay the stinking taxes.


Maybe the stupidovisors will vote no?


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And this idiot of a director is upset because Debbie Arnold’s campaign brought this change in government brought on by Patterson, Hill and Gibson to our attention.


He claims this election campaign has had a personal and professional impact on him according to the front page article last week, poor baby. By the looks of his picture I suggest he take some of those 51 vacation days off.


How many staff personal has it let go, reduced their hours, not filled positions, etc. According to the employment site there are no openings – gosh, can anyone guess why, the gravy train is leaving the station… Pollute, Pollute, Pollute!!!!


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I call the attitude of Allen and the rest of the APCD staff “institutionalized narcissism.”


They believe the rules and realities that the rest of us have to live by simply do not apply to them. Indeed, they become outraged if their “me-first-who-cares-about-you” attitude is challenged…


…because, for them, they really believe that is reality: they come first, and they really don’t give a rat’s patoot about how it impacts anybody or anything else.


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As I sit here running some quick and dirty numbers through the coffee grinder I see ROUGHLY the following:


– An annual budget of $4.4 million

– 21 full-time employees

– 75% of the budget spent on these 21 full-time employees (about $3.3 M)

– IT IS COSTING US APPROXIMATELY $157,000 per employee in this agency. Some a little higher some a little lower as we know the director is getting $240,000 annually which includes a $5,000 annual car allowance, 51 paid days off (does not include weekends and holidays) How many of you get 2 months of vacation!

– WE ARE CURRENTLY PAYING $4 A YEAR PER VEHICHLE IN THIS COUNTY

Overall their budget has gone up 9% per year in this economy

– These 24 employees count toward Patterson’s count of reducing County employees by 250 – yea, and look at what it is costing us.


ALL THIS GOVERNMENT CHANGE SUCKS, THANKS PATTERSON!


CHANGE YOU CAN’T BELIEVE IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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The $240K figure DOES NOT include his $5,400 car allowance. You will find that under a separate budget item.


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Gosh, if they hid this little perk somewhere in the budget what else are they hiding. Maybe the cellphone, gyym, 401 matching, etc. like Mr. McKinney in Atascadero. These perks get hidden all over the place in budgets, just ask our local judges. These good ole’ boys all talk to each other and know or learn how to play the hid and seek game. This director position (don’t take it personal Allen) is not worth $240,000 anyway you count the beans! Oops, beans pollute and create additional gasl Sorry Allen, please don;t send the gas squad, I’ll come in and get a permit.


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Let’s see how Patterson votes.


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I’m guessing Mr. Patterson was hoping this and his vote for Mr Allen’s salary increase would not come out unitl after the election, now he is just hoping most of he district already voted absentee and can’t change their minds and vote for Ms. Arnold instead.


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You are assuming they will be honest and vote in public unlike what they did for Mr. Allen’s 17% salary raise. They like the close door meetings…


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Cut staff

Cut wage and benefit packages

Reduce Scope of work.

We will all be better off.


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You need 19 of 21 people with a salary of over 100k?? Isn’t there anything that can be done by support staff?


Also your budget has almost doubled in 10 years???? I say ENOUGH!!! I read over at you know where this morning, that they want a 3 to 4 dollar increase on vehicle TAX (yes that is what it is, is a tax) and they want to assess my properity to!!??? Are you F**KING KIDDING ME!!?? I have cut expences for both personal and business the last five years. I say it is time for the Government Silver Spoon in mouth crowd to cut the same both personal and business.


2x increase in 10 years says a lot.


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The focus is now on the excess salaries and staff of the pollution control district. But, if you change the focus to any part of county government, you’ll find the same excesses. In good times, a staff full of 6-figured salaries was no big deal; it’s a big deal now. The sad part is that it’s the lower-paid people who do all the work; so when you talk about the “silver spoon”, that should not include the ditch diggers and secretaries. When reductions in staff are made, it always seems to be the low-level people and not high-level administrators. I say reduce the big salaries by at least 25%; don’t touch any salary under $50k. If the people don’t like that, they can find jobs elsewhere.


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Amen, AND who do we really need, the big shot sitting at this desk or the worker bees where things actually get done. This mentality about having to pay these big salaries to get the best candiates, is just a joke. These people want to come and live in paradise. AND, if they don’t go somewhere else. Our cost of living is not that of Monterey, Santa Barbara, Silicon Valley, etc. We all make choices everyday and I think it is time to stop the slogan: Good salaries br9ng the best. Look at SLO City, does anyone think we got the best. If my friends at the City, Miss Katie is gone more than she is there and everyone is fine with that, as they can’t stand her anyway. Look at Apps in Paso, and what a deal they got along with Yang from the City of Bell. Yea, money buys the best – the best idiots and corruption!


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jimmy my comment about Gov. Silver Spoon was in regards to the 19 of 21 people in excess of 100k. Commenting on article and nothing else.


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