_{Thumbnail photo by Paul Critz}

Supervisors Chris Howard and Dean Wilson lauded the hiring of an economic development services manager with Howard calling Tuesday a “great day for Del Norte County.”

“I really felt there’s been a void since the Tri Agency and our ability to address economic development concerns here in the county has been kind of lax,” the District 3 supervisor said, referring to the now-dissolved Tri Agency Economic Development Agency. “This puts us in a forward position based on our strategic planning.”

At a meeting that was over after about 31 minutes, four members of the Board of Supervisors approved hiring the new economic development services manager at Step 3 on the salary schedule. District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey was absent.

Del Norte County’s top administrative official admitted that finding $9.6 million to balance the fiscal year 2026-27 general fund budget was an arduous task that goes beyond sharpening pencils.

County Administrative Officer Neal Lopez affirmed concerns District 2 Supervisor Valerie Starkey raised Tuesday. But, according to him and according to at least one of Starkey’s colleagues, the “huge deficit for the general fund, one of the largest I’ve seen in my career” can be traced to the Board’s actions in the fall to increase the county’s ability to be market competitive.

When the Board of Supervisors raised wages and approved the county’s new salary structure across all bargaining units in December, retirements increased too, Lopez said. Still, he reminded supervisors that the county’s 2026-27 budget is still preliminary and all the accruals from the current fiscal year that ends June 30 have not yet been realized.

“A lot of the prior year’s revenue will increase the revenue from the general fund side of things so we won’t be $9.5 million out,” Lopez said. “I don’t know where it’s going to land, it’s too early in the process, but the bottomline is we have to have a balanced budget so we will have a balanced budget.”