County manager defends record

County Manager Dan Holler said some criticisms leveled at him by County Commissioner Dave Brady at his recent evaluation are on the mark, but he doesn't agree with others.

Citing budget issues that haven't been adequately addressed and developer-driven decisions concerning north county casinos, Brady sharply criticized Holler at the Dec. 20 commission meeting.

Brady criticized Holler's lack of long-range planning with respect to Douglas County's budget. The assumptions used when developing the current budget were far from the economic reality, he said.

"Look at the economic factors used in preparing the budget, like a 25 percent growth in property taxes, an increase in taxable sales and the assumption that development activity will continue much as we've seen over the past five years," Brady said. "The projections are way off."

For example, Holler said some of his projections concerning the economic factors used in determining the budget may have been a little aggressive, but he creates a five-year forecast for the general fund and he doesn't feel those figures are too far off.

"The board gets updates (on these figures) regularly," he said. "None of this should be a surprise."

The county used reserves to balance this year's budget before looking at other approaches, like shifting the focus from gaming, retail and property taxes to include airport use, manufacturing and education.

Brady said Douglas County has violated the county's budget policy by allowing the use of reserves.

"I would like to have seen some alternatives," he said.

Holler said the lost reserves, which are there for emergencies like these, will be replaced by the end of the fiscal year.

"Based on the trends and (employee) vacancies, the money saved will be more than adequate to replace the $400,000 in reserves we used this year," Holler said.

The use of reserves to balance the budget was approved by the board, with the caveat that if those reserves were used, the county would enact a utility operators' fee and consider a business license tax, Holler said.

Brady, who has consistently embraced an approach that involves a reduction in expenditures before raising taxes, said Holler has failed to proactively manage the budget and has been slow to embrace direction from the board.

Holler said the process of revising the budget has been slow, primarily because it is being done internally rather than spend $15,000 to $20,000 for a consultant.

"It's a tradeoff when you do something like this internally," Holler said.

Brady admitted commissioners are responsible in part, for the problem.

"If we had seized the issues earlier, we could have made our decisions earlier," he said.

Holler has been criticized by some commissioners concerning his tendency to micromanage departments. Brady charged Holler dominates and drives decisions in Douglas County's Community Development department, which is responsible for assessing the viability of any proposed project.

Holler said it was a fair criticism. When staff members are polled, some say he is too involved, while others say he doesn't offer enough input. He admits to getting into the details of projects he is passionate about.

The decisions to approve Riverwood commercial development, which will receive $24.7 million in redevelopment tax credits over time, and Jethro's Beverly Hillbillies Mansion & Casino both favor developers, Brady said.

"I find placating developers at the expense of the master plan disconcerting," Brady said.

A majority of the commissioners approved the proposal, both to use redevelopment funding and for the Hillbilly the project. The development is viable and the deals are fair, Holler said.

"Brady has a concern and he voiced it at the meeting. That's his right and his job," Holler said. "But if a majority of the board votes to approve and you disagree, you can't criticize the (county) manager."

Commission Chairman Doug Johnson said he felt he was not given all the information with respect to north county development, but he takes responsibility with respect to the board decision to approve needed zoning changes and variances. Johnson voted with Brady against those proposals. The measures passed by a 3-2 margin.

Brady, who called for Holler's resignation, was the most vocal during a Dec. 20 meeting of the Douglas County Board of commissioners, but the motion died for lack of a second.

Commissioners voted 4-1 to give Holler another three days annual vacation, but no raise or bonus. Brady cast the one dissenting vote.

Withholding Holler's raise saves the county an estimated $4,500. Holler, who is 46 years old and makes just over $133,000 a year, supported the decision.

• Susie Vasquez can be reached at svasquez@recordcourier.com or 782-5121, ext. 211.