County Manager Jenifer Davidson at the Nov. 13, 2024, Sierra Nevada Republican Women meeting.
With the construction of a justice center, Muller Lane Parkway and drainage issues across the county, there are a lot of demands on the county’s resources, County Manager Jenifer Davidson told the Sierra Nevada Republican Women on Wednesday.
She said that the county’s general fund is $67 million, of which $31.2 million goes to salaries and $16.5 million to benefits.
Davidson said around two-thirds of the county’s 300-plus employees are involved with public safety.
“That leaves me with $14.8 million to keep the lights on at all our public buildings to pay our utility bills,” she said. “After I pay the bills and all the salaries, I have $4.5 million left to do all of the other things, to solve all of the other problems.”
Among those problems are a $50 million backlog in road maintenance, which she said would require $6.8 million additional to just keep up, in addition to the $4.6 million the county spends on roads.
On the stormwater front, the county set aside $1 million a year dedicated to stormwater maintenance.
“I can tell you that’s just to maintain the culverts and ditches alongside the roads,” she said. “It is nowhere near setting aside the amount of money needed to invest on infractructure to really solve the stormwater problems that we’re seeing across the Carson Valley.”
Davidson said the county is going to have to make some difficult decisions, similar to the one to build a new justice center.
The bond financing for that project will be $3-4 million annually, leaving nothing as she made a zero with her finger and thumb.
“I can’t cut enough staff to fund all of the critical needs that I have for this organization,” she said. “When I say we’re about to engage in some really tough conversations in this, I mean it. I understand it’s human nature to ask first ‘where can we cut, where can we create efficiencies?’ I promise those conversations are absolutely happening. But I cannot cut enough money out of the general fund budget to meet the needs of this community.”
Davidson is a 2000 graduate of Douglas High School who received her undergraduate degree from Boise State.
She has worked for the county for 17 years and was named Minden Town Manager in 2012.
“I try to earn my job every day,” she said. “It is important that our organization gives back to the community. That we connect with community members. You are what makes Douglas County successful.”
She said it is a challenging time to be in public administration, citing a Pew Research Center survey that two-thirds of Americans had either not too much or no confidence in government.
“Right now to be involved takes real political courage, real faith and a real sense of purpose,” she said. “I don’t think people run for office because they think it will be fun. They run for office to be part of a solution. They want to be involved in their communities, and they want to have a positive impact.”
