To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Agreement with EDD for Confidential Employment and Wage Data
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Conservation and Development Director, or designee, to execute a contract and related indemnity agreement with the State of California, Employment Development Department (EDD), in an amount not to exceed $3,451, to provide confidential employment and wage data to the County for the period December 1, 2024 through November 30, 2027.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No impact to the County General Fund. The cost will be funded 100% by Land Development Funds. These funds are used to cover an existing contract with Beacon Economics pursuant to which Beacon is required to pay EDD’s costs.
BACKGROUND:
The State of California, Employment Development Department (EDD) compiles regional employment and wage data. This data is informative of local and state-wide economic and labor trends and can be a useful tool in developing economic development strategies. This data is, however, confidential and may only be obtained by agreement with EDD. Pursuant to this proposed agreement, the EDD will produce and provide confidential Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data to the County for the purpose of economic planning and development.
The County has entered into a separate contract with Beacon Economics to perform analysis of employment and employer trends and prepare economic forecasts for the County and its sub-areas (e.g., South County, East County, Supervisorial Districts, etc.). The proposed agreement with EDD authorizes the County to disclose the confidential employment and wage data obtained from EDD to Beacon Economics for the specific purpose of fulfilling the Service Plan set forth in Contract. Under its contract with the County, Beacon Economics is responsible for payment to the EDD for the cost of the confidential data obtained through the proposed agreement.
The proposed agreement requires the County to indemnify the EDD from any losses that arise from the release of confidential employment and wage data by County employees who use the data under the agreement. The proposed agreement also requires that Beacon Economics separately indemnify the EDD from any losses that arise from the release of confidential employment and wage data by employees of Beacon Economics. In the event the County incurs any losses arising from the release of confidential employment and wage data by employees of Beacon Economics, Beacon Economics is required under its contract with the County to indemnify the County from such losses.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Without this contract, the Department of Conservation and Development would not be able to gain statistical data for Contra Costa County economic analysis.